A history of northwest Missouri, Volume III, Part 17

Author: Williams, Walter, 1864-1935 editor
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 912

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On the 2d of June, 1910, was solemnized the marriage of Judge Rea to Miss Nellie Barr, daughter of Boyd and Mary Jane (Jenkins) Barr; honored pioneers of Andrew County, and the one child of this union is a winsome little daughter, Blanche, who was born on the 2d of January, 1913.

JEREMIAH H. BRYAN. The remuneration of an active, useful and helpful career is an honorable retirement from labor and a season of rest in which to enjoy the fruits of former toil. The individual who through consecutive endeavor, resolute purpose, sound judgment and unfaltering energy achieves success in the active affairs of life is eminently entitled to a period of leisure in which to carry out his individual desires and indulge those tastes from which he has been formerly withheld by the strenuous duties of business life. For more than forty years Jeremiah H. Bryan was prominently identified with the agricultural interests of Northwest Missouri, and his career was an honorable one, in which his indefatigable labor brought him a hand- some competence that now enables him to put aside the heavier burdens and find pleasurable recreation in his home and among his numerous friends.

Mr. Bryan was born in Greene County, Virginia, December 18, 1840, and is a son of Robert and Lavina (Ganes) Bryan. The family origi- nated in Scotland and its founders in America settled in Culpeper County, Virginia, from whence Allen Bryan, the great-grandfather of Jeremiah H., enlisted for service in the American army during the Revolutionary war. Allen Bryan married a Miss Kendall, who was of English birth, and among their children was Jerry Bryan, the grandfather of Jeremiah H., who served valiantly as a soldier during the War of 1812 as a lieutenant. Robert Bryan was born in 1817, in Greene County, Virginia, grew to manhood in that vicinity, and in that county he married Lavina Ganes, who was born at Dayton, Rocking- ham County, in 1814. He then went across the line into Rockingham

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County and there engaged in farming during the remainder of his life, and passed away at Dayton, aged sixty-five years, while the mother reached the advanced age of ninety-three years. They were faithful mem- bers of the old Baptist Church which was built in 1802, of chestnut logs and afterwards weatherboarded, and which is still standing as one of the old historical landmarks near Culpeper Courthouse. Of the eight chil- dren in their family, seven grew to man and womanhood, and four are living at this time: Jeremiah H .; Robert, a resident of Roanoke, Vir- ginia ; George, who resides at Dayton, Virginia; and Joe M., who lives at Warrensburg, Missouri.

Jeremiah H. Bryan was reared in Rockingham County, Virginia, and received his education in the public schools, upon his completion of the curriculum of which he learned the trade of carpenter. He was thus engaged and in his twenty-first year when the war between the South and North broke across the country in all its fury, and young Bryan, casting his sympathies with his state, offered his services to the Confederacy and was accepted as a member of Company I, Seventh Regiment, Virginia Cavalry. His subsequent services in the ranks of the Gray covered a period of three years, three months and twenty days, and ended only when he was paroled at the time of General Lee's sur- render at Appomattox. Mr. Bryan's military record is one of which any soldier might well be proud, his engagements including such famous and sanguinary battles as Gettysburg, Second Manassas, Harpers Ferry, and all the engagements in which the greatly beloved "Stonewall" Jack- son took part; the battle of Sharpsburg, where he acted in the capacity of courier for "Marse" Lee, Port Republic, where he acted in the same position for General Jackson, Brandy Station, Spottsylvania, Cedar Mountain and Petersburg, surely names to thrill the hearts of the brave boys who fought under the Bonnie Blue Flag. Mr. Bryan's service was filled with escapades and exciting adventures, and during his service around Washington he swam the Potomac River five times. He was also a member of the party which slipped around in Grant's rear, at Sabona Church, capturing and running off 2,489 head of cattle, in spite of the Union general's 250,000 men. He was twice wounded by saber cuts, one across the back of his hand and the other across his forehead.

When the fortunes of war resulted in the fall of the Confederacy, Mr. Bryan returned to his home, and for three months was engaged in teaching subscription school. Following this he resumed the trade of carpenter, at which he worked until 1868, but the stirring experiences of army life had bred in him the desire for more activity and excite- ment than could be furnished amid the environments of his home, and he finally left the parental roof and started for Barton and Saline coun- ties, Missouri, working at his trade and looking for a suitable place to locate permanently. He returned home for Christmas, 1868, but in the following spring returned to Missouri, and April 11, 1869, arrived at Richmond, Ray County, where he purchased eighty acres of land just to the north. He continued to work at his trade and to cultivate this land until 1874, when he traded this property for eighty acres of raw land, which is his present home. Here he settled down permanently to farming, although he continued to work at his trade until some fifteen years ago, and it is doubtful if there is a farm in Ray County that does not bear some evidence of his skill as a builder. From time to time he has added to his holdings, and with each purchase has cleared and im- proved the land, even to the planting of shade and fruit trees, and at present his holdings include 500 acres in Ray County, 100 acres in Car-

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roll County, Missouri, and 500 acres in Texas. His buildings are of the most modern architecture and substantial construction, his improve- ments are the best to be obtained, and on his Texas property he has recently erected a pumping station worth $7,000. Everything he owns has been accumulated through the medium of his own efforts, and it is reasonable to believe that a better example of self-made manhood could not be found. Of recent years he has retired from the active work of the farm, which he has turned over to his sons and son-in-law, although he still takes a keen and active interest in the operation of his land and through his experience and good judgment aids in making it one of the most productive tracts in this part of the state. In business and social circles Mr. Bryan is held in the highest esteem; his name is an honored one in the commercial and financial world, and his word is considered as good as any parchment. He has taken a wholesome pride in the advancements which have marked his community's progress and development, to which he has contributed by his activities in the business world and as a co-worker in movements for the public welfare. A life- long democrat, he has had no desire for public life, but is always ready to bear his share of the responsibilities of good citizenship. He is a close relative of William Jennings Bryan. The family is connected religiously with the Baptist Church.

On April 24, 1867, Mr. Bryan was united in marriage with Miss Mary Frances Fridley, who was born in Rockingham County, Virginia, July 26, 1847, and to this union there have been born five children, of whom three are living: Jerry N., born March 1, 1877, who is carrying on farming in Ray County, Missouri; John Robert, born October 15, 1881, a graduate of the University of Missouri civil engineering depart- ment, who is now county surveyor for Jackson County, Texas; and Mary Ida, born August 20, 1884, who is the wife of William S. Mayers, living on the home farm in Ray County, and has one child.

IRVING MILLER. Although the well-directed activities of Irving Mil- ler in Northwest Missouri belong to the past rather than the present, for he is now a resident of Kansas, they were such as to make his name well known and highly esteemed in business circles of Richmond and Brookfield, where for some fourteen years he was the proprietor of a clothing establishment. A man of excellent business ability, he bears a high reputation both in his old and new localities, and as a citizen has at all times shown himself helpful and public-spirited. Mr. Miller is a native son of Clay County, born at Liberty, November 26, 1864, his father being the Hon. Robert Hise Miller, Platte County's "grand old man," a review of whose career will be found on another page of this work.

Mr. Miller was reared at Liberty, and received his primary educa- tion in the graded schools, following which he became a student at Wil- liam Jewell College. He did not graduate from this institution, how- ever, but entered upon his business career when still in his 'teens in the newspaper office with his father, who was the founder of the Liberty Tribune and its publisher for about forty years. After a short time Irving Miller left the field of journalism for that of commercial activity, his father assisting him to establish himself in the clothing business at Liberty, and later at Pleasant Hill, where he remained until 1891. At that time, seeking a wider field for his abilities, he went to Richmond, to which place he transferred his business, there passing a successful twelve years in the same line of business. He then disposed of his interests there and went to Brookfield, but after two years sold and Vol. III-8

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went to his present location, the town of Junction City, Kansas. Here for nine years his operations have met with satisfactory results and he is justly accounted one of the substantial merchants of that flourishing locality.

Mr. Miller was married to Miss Ola M. Lowery, who was born at Clinton, Henry County, Missouri, September 16, 1871, and is a daugh- ter of James R. and Elizabeth R. (McEltheny) Lowery, natives of Harrodsburg, Kentucky, who in young married life came to Missouri and located at Clinton. In 1861 Mr. Lowery enlisted in the Confederate army for service in the Civil war under the noted southern General Price, and served until 1864, participating in a number of engagements. He was finally honorably discharged because of disability, having con- tracted a serious illness during his service. One daughter has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Miller: Miss Ozelle, of Liberty, who is well known in this city, where she has many friends, and is a popular member of the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

CHARLES W. DALE. In the county that has been his place of abode from the time of his nativity Mr. Dale is now a representative agricul- turist and stock grower, his well improved farm being eligibly situated in Knoxville Township, Ray County, and his being an assured place in the confidence and respect of the people of his native county. He is a scion of a sterling old family of this section of Missouri and is a son of Moses G. Dale, of whom specific mention is made on other pages of this history, so that repetition of the family data is not demanded in the sketch here presented.

Charles W. Dale was born on a farm near Swanwick, in Richmond Township, Ray County, Missouri, on the 25th of September, 1857, and his early associations were those of the old homestead farm on which he was reared to adult age, the while he duly availed himself of the advan- tages of the district schools, as well as of the high school at Richmond, the county seat. He continued to be associated in the work and man- agement of his father's farm until he had attained to the age of twenty- three years, and in the following year he assumed connubial responsibili- ties, besides initiating independent effort in connection with the great basic industry under the influences of which he had been reared. In 1884 he removed to his present farm, situated north of the little village of Dockery, and upon the place he has made excellent improvements of · permanent order, besides which he reclaimed a considerable portion of the land and under personal supervision brought the same under effec- tive cultivation. His farm comprises eighty-five acres of fertile land and he gives his attention to diversified agriculture and the raising of excellent grades of live stock. He has made no dramatic exploits in his career, but in a quiet and unassuming way has pressed forward to the mark of large and worthy achievement and has never wavered in his allegiance to the staunch industry which is the recognized basis of all generic prosperity. He is unwavering in his allegiance to the democratic party. He is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and his wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and a Rebekah.

On the 5th of October, 1880, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Dale to Miss Olivia Magill, who was born in Richmond Township, Ray County, which has represented her home during the long intervening years, the date of her nativity having been February 8, 1862. She is a daughter of William and Mary C. (Haynes) Magill, the former of whom was born near Louisville, Kentucky, on the 3d of January, 1816, and the latter of whom was born in Tennessee, September 15, 1824.

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Mr. Magill died on the 12th of December, 1905, and his widow still maintains her home in Ray County. Of their five children three are living : Sallie is the widow of Thomas Lusk and resides in Kansas City, Missouri ; Olivia is the wife of Mr. Dale of this review; and Fannie is the wife of Rev. J. L. Joyner, of Whitney, Texas. William Magill was a son of William and Polly (Baughman) Magill, and the family came to Missouri in 1832, remaining for a few months in Saline County and, in the spring of 1833, removing to Ray County, where settlement was made near Swanwick, in Richmond Township. William Magill, Sr., one of the sterling pioneers of Ray County, was born February 27, 1777, and his death occurred in Ray County, Missouri, on the 27th of March, 1847. His wife was born November 7, 1780, and was summoned to the life eternal on the 23d of January, 1843, their marriage having been solemn- ized January 3, 1803. This worthy couple became the parents of seven children: Mrs. Olivia Hodges, the eldest of the children, was born November 20, 1803, and died November 22, 1897; Henderson Magill was born August 26, 1805, and died September 4, 1864; Baughman Magill was born April 27, 1807, and died September 14, 1833; Samuel P. Magill was born November 21, 1809, and died in 1894; Lorenzo Magill was born January 30, 1812, and died July 3, 1887; John F. Magill was born November 20, 1814, and died within the same year; William Magill, Jr., father of Mrs. Dale, was born January 3, 1816, and died December 12, 1905, as has been previously noted in this context. The family is one that has been prominent in connection with the development and upbuilding of Northwestern Missouri and the name has ever stood exponent of the highest integrity as well as of productive industry. William Magill, Jr., first wedded Matilda Hamilton, who was born Jan- uary 18, 1827, and whose death occurred August 14, 1855, their mar- riage having been celebrated September 12, 1844. Of the six children of this union five are living-Baughman, of Triplett, Chariton County, Missouri ; Thomas and Henry, who still reside in Ray County, this state ; Margaret R., who is the widow of Benjamin F. Baber and resides at Richmond, Ray County ; Mollie, who is the widow of John L. Harrison, of Ray County; and John, who is deceased. On the 3d of February, 1856, William Magill wedded Miss Mary C. Haynes, and she still sur- vives him, as has been stated in a preceding paragraph. Mrs. Mary C. (Haynes) Magill was reared and educated in Ray County and is a daughter of Joseph Haynes, who was a native of Murry County, Ten- nessee, and whose parents were born in North Carolina. William Magill was affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and both he and his wife were zealous members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Mr. and Mrs. Dale have three children,-Nellie, who is the wife of Thomas M. Shelton, of Ray County ; Glen married Maud Watkins and is identified with agricultural pursuits in this county; and Grover, who remains at the parental home. There are two grandchildren, Robert and Eudora Dale.

JOSEPH L. ASHBY. For nearly sixty years a resident of Clinton County, Joseph L. Ashby is one of the citizens whose name and a brief record of whose career should be permanently recorded in. any history of Northwest Missouri. He had his part in the pioneer development of Clinton County, and has ably discharged his obligations in making a living and providing for home and family,and has also discharged his duties to the general community with an efficiency which brings him honor. The Ashby homestead is one of the most interesting as well as most valuable farms in Platte Township, comprising 540 acres of land, an old and attractive residence grounds, and not least among the pic-

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turesque features is the presence of thirty-nine different varieties of timber. One of the giant oaks on the farm is perhaps the largest tree of its kind in Clinton County. Mr. Ashby has lived in Clinton County since 1855.

Joseph L. Ashby was born November 25, 1831, in Kentucky, and has passed the age of four score years. His father was Manzey Quincy Ashby, and of notable American ancestry. His grandfather was Na- thaniel Ashby, a son of Capt. Jack Ashby, who held a commission in the American army during the Revolutionary war and had previously gone with the Virginia troops under Washington with the British regulars against the French and Indians in western Pennsylvania, on the 19th of July, 1753, and was present at Braddock's defeat. He was selected by Washington to carry a message containing the awful results of the battle to Lord Fairfax, and the latter in turn was to send forward a messenger to Governor Dinwiddie. This Capt. Jack Ashby lived to be ninety-two years of age. The first of the family to come to America arrived on these shores in 1702. He was descended from Sir Edward Ashby, a Huguenot. In a later generation of the same family was Gen. T. Ashby, who held high rank in the Confederate army during the Civil war. Manzey Q. Ashby married Margaret Logan, who was of a Scotch-Irish family that settled in Kentucky. Of the children who reached maturity the following brothers and sisters of Joseph L. should be mentioned : Margaret, deceased wife of Samuel Woodson; Mary McKee, deceased ; Ellen, wife of George Hamilton; Archibald L., a writer and editor, who died in 1891. The father of this family died at the age of eighty-six. At one time he owned as much as 25,000 acres of Missouri land, and. was a man of unusual business judgment and ability. Physically he stood six feet and weighed 225 pounds. His wife died at the age of fifty-six years.

Joseph L. Ashby was reared in Kentucky, acquired his education there, and in his early manhood found the opportunities for a long and useful career in Northwest Missouri. His first wife was Mary Evans, a daughter of Dr. Peter Evans, a pioneer physician of Kentucky. After her death Mr. Ashby married Olivia Dunham, and they became the parents of seven children: Adull; Alden, of Clinton County ; Erskine Birch, of Excelsior Springs, Missouri; Martha; Margaret; Olivia Beery, of Lawrence, Kansas; and Jassamine. All the children received the best of educational advantages. Mr. Ashby is a democrat in politics, is affil- iated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and for forty years has been a 'teacher in the Sunday school. His own life has been success- ful from every point of view, and he has always maintained a breadth of judgment and of observation, and has kept well informed concerning the great issues of life and world's affairs.

S. S. PORTER. Prosperity in all its meanings belongs to S. S. Porter, of Clinton County, where everyone knows him and he knows everybody. He has spent all his life there, and is first of all a very successful farmer and stockman, and according to the Quaker method of phrasing it is a birthright follower of that business. His father was prominent in the stock business in Northwest Missouri, and the name stands for success- ful operations in that line and for thorough public spirit in citizenship.

S. S. Porter was born December 21, 1879, on his father's homestead in Clinton County, a son of Benjamin F. Porter. Benjamin F. Porter was a son of Samuel S. Porter, of Clay County, Missouri. James Porter, a brother of Benjamin F., now living in Plattsburg, was a soldier in the Confederate army and lost a leg during the service. The wife of Ben- jamin F. Porter died when her son S. S. was fourteen years of age.

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There were four children: Dr. Allen Porter, a prominent physician in Kansas City ; the second child is deceased; S. S. is the third; and Frank B. is a resident of Shoal Township, Clinton County. Benjamin F. Por- ter died at Osborn in 1911, at the age of seventy. He was one of the extensive cattle feeders, and at times had as many as 500 cattle and 1,000 hogs.

S. S. Porter was married November 19, 1902, to Florence Duncan. Her father, P. S. Duncan, was born in Clay County, Missouri, April 22, 1844, a son of Stephen Duncan, a native of Bourbon County, Kentucky, and an early settler and stockman in Northwest Missouri. P. S. Duncan was married in Taylor County, Iowa, to Mary Severns, and they had five children : Florence, now Mrs. S. S. Porter; S. Stephen, who lives on the home farm; Leora, who married Wyatt Hord; Henry Clay; and Claud. Mr. and Mrs. Porter have four children: Mary Julia, Florence Hazel, Virginia Lula and Ben S. S.

Mr. Porter and family reside in one of the comfortable residences of Clinton County, a fine house, of twelve rooms with all modern con- veniences. His farm is thoroughly equipped for stock raising, has many acres of blue grass pasture, a fine barn 40x60 feet, and each year he turns off a large number of cattle. He makes a specialty of Hereford cattle. Mrs. Porter is a member of the Christian Church. In politics Mr. S. S. Porter is a democrat.

AARON B. CONROW, proprietor of a flourishing hardware business at Richmond, is numbered among the selfmade men of Ray County. No fortunate family or pecuniary advantages aided him at the outset of his career. On the contrary, the close of the Civil war found him fatherless, his education was necessarily limited, and from his boyhood he has been dependent upon his own resources. Obstacles and difficul- ties have confronted him, but these he has overcome by determined effort, and as the years have passed he has advanced steadily to a posi- tion of prominence in the business world. Mr. Conrow was born in Richmond, October 28, 1858, and here has spent his entire life.

Aaron H. Conrow, father of Aaron B., was born June 19, 1824, near Cincinnati, Ohio. He spent a part of his boyhood days at, or near, Pekin, Illinois, and from that place removed with his parents to Missouri and settled in Ray County. Here, through his own energy, he obtained a pretty thorough education, teaching school a part of the time in order to complete the same, and in this being very successful. He then chose the law as a profession and by rigid economy and per- sistent labor succeeded in making himself an eminent legist. On May 17, 1828, he was married to Mary Ann Quesenberry, daughter of David H. and Lucinda Quesenberry, natives of Kentucky and early settlers of Ray County, and to this union there were born four children, of whom three are living: William S., rural mail carrier at Richmond ; Aaron B .; and Mamie, who is the wife of J. L. Farris, of Richmond, Missouri. The mother of these children passed away February 20, 1901.

Aaron H. Conrow was appointed by the governor judge of the first probate court established in Ray County. From January, 1857, to Jan- uary, 1861, he was circuit attorney of the Fifth Judicial Circuit of Mis- souri, an office that had been previously filled by some of the most bril- liant lawyers of the state. He was an astute and successful advocate, a fine judge of law, and a man who never descended to the slightest artifice to gain the advantage over an opponent; although ingenious he was open and candid, and above all littleness. Judge Conrow was the preceptor of several young men who afterward became able and prom- inent lawyers, was ever the fast friend of education, and no man ever

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contributed more liberally to the support of institutions of learning.

A democrat eminently worthy to be trusted, in 1860 he was elected to the general assembly of the state, and was serving as a member of that august body at the outbreak of the war between the South and the North. Casting his fortunes with the Confederacy, he was instrumental in recruiting and equipping the first company organized in Ray County for the defense of the cause which he believed right, and ranked as colonel of the Murrain State Guards, an organization he had helped to create by his vote in the legislature. He was by a majority of his com- rades elected to represent his district (the Fourth Missouri) in the Con- federate congress, and in that capacity, as in all others, served with zeal and promptness. He was at the first meeting and at the final adjourn- ment of that body. At the close of the war the amnesty agreed upon did not include the members of the Confederate congress and, fearing that if he fell into the hands of the successful party his life would be forfeited, he went to Mexico, where, soon afterward, he was brutally murdered by a band of Mexican soldiers, on, or about, August 25, 1865. The last seen of this brave and distinguished man by his family was after the battle of Lexington, in which he had taken part, following which he visited his home for a short time.

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A history of northwest Missouri, Volume III, Part 17

Author: Williams, Walter, 1864-1935 editor Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis publishing company Number of Pages: 912

Author: Williams, Walter, 1864-1935 editor
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 912