USA > Missouri > A history of northwest Missouri, Volume III > Part 21
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At that time John Lockridge was eight years old, and during the following years the orphan boy lived at different times with Judge Robert C. Williams, whose wife was an aunt, and also with his uncle. Nathan Gillilan. To escape the turmoil and discord of the Civil war he accompanied his sister and brother-in-law to Des Moines, returning to Missouri when the war was over. He had then nearly reached his major- ity, and while living with his sister made plans to take possession of the 100 acres which he had inherited from his father. The lumber for his first house, a story and a half structure, 16 by 32 feet, he hauled by wagon from Chillicothe, a distance of thirty-two miles. He possessed the industry and business judgment required for success in farming, and his prosperity is measured in part by the fact that he increased his original 100 acres to 600, comprising one of the best country estates in Daviess County. A large part of this he has since distributed among his children, and is now enjoying the fruits of a well spent career in ease.
John Lockridge married a Daviess County girl whose family is like- wise of pioneer stock and old Virginia ancestry. Her parents, James W. and Harriet P. (Allen) Miller, were born in Rappahannock County, Vir- ginia, and some years after their marriage came out to Daviess County, where their settlement was made subsequent to the Lockridges. Their location was on wild land in Jamesport Township, but after several years James W. Miller removed to Jamesport and became a clerk in the old Etter store. From there he went to Gallatin, and was for years the trusted and right-hand man in Etter's One Price Cash Store. The only important break in his long mercantile experience was during the years from 1883 to 1886, when he devoted himself to the careful handling of the county clerk's office.
Both the Lockridge and Miller families were of the old school Pres- byterian faith, and in politics all the men adhered to the democratic party. The seven children of John Lockridge and wife are: Charles Sidney, a farmer in Jamesport Township; George W .; Harry Tate, a farmer in Jamesport Township; Homer, farming in the same locality ; Mrs. Hattie Hill, of Grand River Township; Walter, who occupies the old homestead; and John Franklin, who is chief train dispatcher with one of the Northwestern railroads, his headquarters being at Pocatello, Idaho.
On the old homestead in Jamesport Township stood a schoolhouse attended by all the Lockridge children. The first teacher whom George W. knew was John C. Leopard. He took the usual curriculum of a country school, being noted for proficiency in arithmetic, and later was a student in the Gallatin High School. At the age of nineteen he took
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an examination and was granted a teacher's certificate, with which qualification he soon afterward appeared as the master at the Cole Springs School, and later had charge of the Griffith and Smith schools. His experience was then varied with employment in a drug store at Bancroft. In pursuit of more knowledge, he next entered the Grand River College at Gallatin, then under Rev. Dr. Pope Yeman, a noted Baptist clergyman. In the middle of his first term he definitely deter- mined upon civil engineering as his career, and at once entered the State School of Mines, at Rolla, where he was a student 21/2 years, completing the general mathematical course.
With this training, on his return to Daviess County he at once fitted into an unexpired term of county surveyor, was elected at the next regular election and continued in the office for eight consecutive years. As a side line, during two years of that time, he taught mathematics in Grand River College. His early experience in a drug store may have influenced his next move. After passing the examination before the state board and being qualified as a registered pharmacist, he formed a partnership with Dr. M. A. Smith, and for about eight years con- ducted a drug business in Gallatin, finally selling his interests in 1906. Going to Cameron he remodeled and opened a drug store for other parties, and was getting $20 a week for his work. In April, 1908, he resigned the position to begin work with the Dildine Bridge & Con- struction Company of Hannibal, which also had offices in Cameron. His first employment with this firm was in the capacity of a common laborer, but in a very short time he was promoted to foreman, and then went to Hannibal as superintendent of construction in the steel mills. He resigned this to become superintendent of construction on the rock road then being built between Hannibal and Palmyra. When this work was finished, he returned to Daviess County and resided at Pattonsburg until again elected to the office of county surveyor in 1912, with a major- ity of over nine hundred votes. Mr. Lockridge has saved the county thousands of dollars each year as a result of his expert knowledge, which enables him to do his own designing, purchasing of materials, and super- vising of construction. He draws all plans for bridges constructed in Daviess County.
By marriage Mr. Lockridge is also connected with an early Daviess County family. His wife before her marriage, which was celebrated June 20, 1900, was Miss Minnie Frances Koger, of Pattonsburg. William G. Koger, her father, was born in Marion Township of Daviess County in 1851, and was the grandson on his mother's side of David Groomer. David Groomer, who came from Pennsylvania to Daviess County in pioneer times, is said to have had on his arrival only an old pony and $10 in cash. That was the beginning of a career which made him one of the wealthiest men in this part of Missouri, and at the time of his death he had 8,000 acres in Daviess County. Of this handsome estate 1,800 acres were bequeathed to his two grandsons, who had lived with him from early childhood, one of them being William G. Koger. The latter, who is now living retired in Pattonsburg, is a director of the Daviess County Savings Bank there. Mr. and Mrs. Lockridge are the parents of two children : John William, born in 1903, and Mary Frances, born in 1908.
Politically Mr. Lockridge has kept the same faith as his family, and has worked and voted with the democratic party. Originally a Presby- terian, he is now a Baptist, which is the church of his wife. He is a member of the Gallatin Commercial Club, of the Association of High- way Engineers, of the National Association of Retail Druggists, and
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affiliates with the lodge and chapter and Eastern Star of Masonry, with the Knights of Pythias and the Order of Yeomen.
Mr. Lockridge is a member and secretary of the highway commis- sion on the county seat highway, a sub-member of the committee of the Omaha and St. Louis trail, a state highway. His position of highway engineer is by appointment from the county board, and its duties fit in well with those of county surveyor.
ELWOOD D. MANN. As a Gallatin business man Elwood D. Mann's career covers more than thirty years, and in that time he rose from the position of a clerk to president of a bank, and is now an active member of the firm of Cruzen & Mann, handling loans, abstracts and insurance. He represents the pioneer families of Mann and Drummond in Daviess County, and their residence in this section of Northwest Missouri covers nearly seventy years.
Elwood D. Mann was born in Union Township of Daviess County, December 2, 1861. He is a son of Matthew R. and Margaret A. (Drum- mond) Mann, and his two grandfathers were Jonathan R. Mann and James P. Drummond. All these older members of the respective fami- lies were natives of Virginia. Both the Manns and Drummonds came to Daviess County about the same time, James P. Drummond having brought his family out to this section about 1847 or 1848, and in Union Township he took up a tract of Government land, but subsequently removed to Jackson Township, where for nearly fifty years he was an honored and useful citizen. His death occurred at Jamesport. On coming to Daviess County both these families settled in the midst of the woods and while transforming a forest into cultivated fields they endured and experienced the numberless incidents of pioneer life. Matthew R. Mann came to Missouri when about twenty-four years of age. His wife was brought to Missouri as a child of ten years and grew up in Daviess County, and was married there: Matthew R. Mann was an active farmer, and after his marriage continued to live in Union Township for many years, and finally retired and lived in Gallatin until his death on December 13, 1903. His widow is still living. Elwood D. Mann was the second of three chil- dren, the other two being Joseph A. of Gallatin and James W., who died October 10, 1903.
It was on a Daviess County farm in the district schools that Elwood D. Mann had his early training, and on May 1, 1883, he began his real business career as clerk in a grocery store at Gallatin. On January 1, 1886, nearly three years later, he became associated with Oliver P. Wal- ters in the hardware business, and it was as a successful merchant that he was best known in that city until 1893. In that year he turned his attention to banking, being elected cashier of the Farmers Exchange Bank, and subsequently was promoted first to the office of vice president and later to president, and altogether his banking experience covered seventeen years. In 1910 Mr. Mann engaged in the loan, abstract and insurance business, and that is the line along which he now concentrates his energies. On January 1, 1912, he formed his present partnership with N. G. Cruzen, a lawyer, under the firm name of Cruzen & Mann. Mr. Mann looks after the business end of the concern while his partner attends to the legal matters.
In 1883 Mr. Mann married Miss May Miller. One child was born of this union, named Robert. Mrs. Mann died in February, 1902, and in the following year he married Miss Bessie Gillilan, a daughter of W. J. Gillilan, of Jamesport, who was a pioneer in that locality.
Mr. Mann is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and has fraternal affiliations with the Masons and the Independent Order of
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Odd Fellows. At the present time he is one of the executive committee of the Gallatin Commercial Club. In political matters he supports the democratic party, and has given some valuable service to his home city as a member of the council. He is one of the leading and reliable business men of Daviess County, and highly respected as a citizen.
JOHN SEBASTIAN BROOKSHIER. The present postmaster at Lock Springs, John S. Brookshier has lived in this part of Missouri all his life, represents two families that were among the pioneers of Livingston County, and in his business career has been identified with farming and with the management of a factory in Lock Springs, and in public affairs he has a number of times been honored with places of trust and respon- sibility.
John Sebastian Brookshier was born on a farm in Livingston County, Missouri, January 26, 1860. His father, Leander Green Brookshier was born in Missouri February 22, 1839, and his mother whose maiden name was Mary Louisa Minnick was born in Virginia in 1839. Both the Brook- shiers and the Minnicks came into Northwest Missouri during the early days and founded homes in Livingston and Daviess counties.
John Sebastian Brookshier grew up on a farm in Livingston county, obtained an education in the country schools, and after the close of school days engaged in farming with his father until the age of twenty- one. He then started out for himself, first as a farm hand, and after four years, in 1883, began working for Francis Cook in Lock Springs. There he learned the trade of handle maker, and in 1888 bought the shop of Mr. Cook, and for the succeeding ten years made that an important local industry, and manufactured many thousand handles of all kinds each year. In 1898 Mr. Brookshier resumed farming, and continued actively along that line until 1913, and still has farming interests to which he gives his attention. In 1913 Mr. Brookshier was appointed post- master of Lock Springs, and is now handling that office in a thorough and systematic manner.
As a democrat, his first local office was constable, to which he was elected about 1894 and served four years. In 1898 Mr. Brookshier was elected a justice of the peace, and was reelected for two terms, serving un- til 1904. He is a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and fraternally is affiliated with the Blue Lodge in Masonry and with the Modern Woodmen of America.
On December 24, 1885, Mr. Brookshier married Miss Julia R. Yeager, Her parents were Minor W. and Emma (Woodward) Yeager. Mr. and Mrs. Brookshier have four sons, named Robert E., Harry Lee, Ralph O. and Walter F. The son Robert married Stella Doak of Texas, while the rest of the sons live at home with their parents.
ISAAC LUTHER WADE. Since 1903 cashier of the Bank of Lock Springs, Mr. Wade is a public spirited and successful business man of that community, with which he has been identified excepting for about two years since 1889. He began life as a telegraph operator, was in the railway service for a number of years, and he has had a steady progress from small beginnings to a degree of accomplishment which put him in the list with the leading men of Southern Daviess County.
Isaac Luther Wade was born in Clinton County, Illinois, March 18, 1860, and his family are a combination of Irish and German stocks, and their early place of residence was Pennsylvania. His father, Jolin Wade, was born in Pennsylvania in 1838, a son of John and Mary (Eshelman) Wade, both natives of Pennsylvania. John Wade, the grandfather, learned the shoemaking trade in Pennsylvania, and then moved out to
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Illinois, where he followed his occupation in Clinton County. Mr. Wade's mother was Martha Mary (Yingst) Wade. She was born in Ohio in 1837, a daughter of John and Mary (Ogle) Yingst, both natives of Pennsylvania. John Yingst learned the trade of blacksmith in Pennsyl- vania, and finally moved to Clinton County, Illinois.
Isaac L. Wade grew up in Clinton County, Illinois, acquired an edu- cation in the country schools, and in 1887 went to St. Louis and took a course in telegraphy. In the following year in 1888 the Wabash Rail- road made him station agent and operator at Sampsel in Livingston County, and in 1889 he was transferred to Lock Springs, where he took charge of the station. In 1897 he was sent to Pattonsburg, Missouri, as assistant station agent, but in 1899 returned to Lock Springs, and has since been out of the railroad service and engaged in business lines. For three years he was engaged in merchandising and also held the posi- tion of postmaster. In 1903 he was elected cashier of the Bank of Lock Springs, and has had the practical management of that substantial in- stitution up to the present time. The Bank of Lock Springs has a capital stock of $10,000, and enjoys the confidence and patronage of a large com- munity in and about that town. Besides his work as a banker Mr. Wade is dealing in insurance and also has a commission as notary public.
Politically he has been identified with the republican party, and for a number of years has held a position as a member of the school board of Lock Springs. He belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church, is a Blue Lodge Mason, and also affiliates with the Eastern Star, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
In 1891 Mr. Wade married Miss Margaret Matilda Brookshier, a daughter of Thomas Benton and Elizabeth (Brooks) Brookshier. Mr. and Mrs. Wade are the parents of four children, all of whom have been well educated and are being trained for careers of usefulness. Their names are Raymond Brooks, Clarence Coleman, Ashley Brookshier and Miss Easter May.
REV. WALTER FRANKLIN BRADLEY. One of the ablest young minis- ters of the Presbyterian Church in Northwest Missouri is Rev. Walter Franklin Bradley, now stationed at Lock Springs in the southern part of Daviess County. He has been very active in church affairs during the past five years, and in October, 1912, was elected superintendent of the Quiet Hour of the Missouri Christian Endeavor Union and in October, 1914, was chosen to the office of pastor adviser. In May, 1914, as a commissioner from the McGee Presbytery he sat in the general assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Chicago.
One of a family of twelve children, eight of whom are still living, Rev. Mr. Bradley was born at Onaga, Kansas, February 20, 1884. His parents were George Samuel and Elizabeth (Thomas) Bradley. His father was born in Virginia April 11, 1846, and his mother in Indiana October 5, 1853, and both are still living, their homes being in Bethany, Missouri. The Bradley family is of English ancestry, and has been established in the United States for a century and a quarter. George S. Bradley was a soldier during the Civil war. He first enlisted at Pine Village, Indiana, for six months term, and was stationed principally on the Great Lakes. On receiving his honorable discharge he reenlisted, and was in the South fighting the battles of the Union for about three years. His services included participation in the great battle at Pitts- burg Landing, or Shiloh, and for a time he was stationed at Cumberland Gap and also at Nashville under General Thomas. In order to take ad- vantage of the offer by the Federal Government of homesteads to the old veterans, the father moved out to Onaga, Kansas, in 1872 and there
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acquired a quarter section of land. The family were among the first settlers at Onaga. George S. Bradley was a blacksmith by trade, and followed that work in connection with farming. In 1890 the family moved to Bethany, Missouri, where the father was active in his trade until 1914, and has since lived retired.
Rev. Mr. Bradley acquired his early education at Bethany, graduat- ing from the high school in 1903, and then entered the Missouri Valley College at Marshall, Missouri, and graduated A. B. His professional studies were pursued in the Lebanon Theological Seminary, where he graduated in 1910 B. D. and in the same year was ordained a minister of the Presbyterian Church. For the past four years he has had charge of the church at Lock Springs and has been very successful in upbuilding the various church activities. His interests extend to many affairs out- side of his immediate responsibilities, and he is very enthusiastic on the subject of athletics. He affiliates with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Rev. Mr. Bradley was married May 5, 1910, at Iago, Texas, to Miss Iva Gertrude Chapman, daughter of James Madison and Josephine (O'Brien) Chapman of Illinois. They have one child, James Chapman Bradley, born May 23, 1912.
PHILIP A. ABBETT. Now recognized as the leading merchant of Lock Springs, Philip A. Abbett has been engaged in business affairs in Daviess County upwards of thirty years, and the greater part of the time was an active member of the business community at Jamesport. His dealings as a merchant have commended him to the confidence of all people in his locality, and when the leading citizens are mentioned the name of Philip A. Abbett is sure to be in the list.
Philip A. Abbett was born in Bartholomew County, Indiana, April 15, 1855, and both his parents were natives of the same county. His father, William A. Abbett, was born March 26, 1832, while his mother, Mary (Barnhart) Abbett was born February 10, 1833. The parental grandparents, James M. and Lucy (Abbett) Abbett were natives of Ken- tucky, but became pioneers in Bartholomew County, Indiana, locating there about 1828 and securing land direct from the Government at a cost of $1.25 per acre. The maternal grandparents were Philip A. and Sylva Barnhart. The former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Indiana.
Philip A. Abbett grew up in Bartholomew County, acquired his early education in the country schools, and took a course of instruction in the Hartsville College in Bartholomew County. While Mr. Abbett has pros- pered as a merchant and has long been identified with business affairs, his early career was devoted to educational work, and he taught many terms of school. For eleven years he was engaged as a teacher in his native state, and in 1885 moved to Missouri and spent a year in teaching in Harris County. Since then all his time has been devoted to business affairs. At Jamesport in Daviess County Mr. Abbett was known as a grocery and hardware merchant for nineteen years, but finally disposed of his interests there and in 1906 moved to Lock Springs, where he opened a general store and has since enjoyed an extensive trade. At the same time he has a farm, and combines both activities.
Mr. Abbett is a democrat in politics, and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Fraternally his relations are with the Masonic Lodge and the Knights of Pythias.
On March 9, 1876, Mr. Abbett married for his first wife Anna. Lee- son, a daughter of James and Sarah (Young) Leeson. There are two daughters: Mrs. Eugene B. Russell and Mrs. Jean M. Wells, both of whom are now living in St. Joseph, Missouri. On October 9, 1901, Mr.
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Abbett married Mrs. Jennie B. Knotts, a daughter of Robert and Romanza (Carter) Brown. There are also two children by the second marriage, Robert W. being eleven years of age and Philip A. was born in 1913.
GEORGE WASHINGTON LITTON. One of the oldest merchants and busi- ness men of Lock Springs, George W. Litton has spent a lifetime of more than three score and ten years in this section of Missouri, is the son of a pioneer in Livingston County, and the activities of his own career include a service in the Civil war, many years of relationship with farm- ing, until about thirty-five yers ago he established himself in business at Lock Springs.
George Washington Litton was born in Livingston County, Missouri, May 16, 1842. His parents were Thomas and Mary Ann (Brookshier) Litton. His mother was born in Tennessee, and his father was born in Kentucky in 1822, and when a very young man established his home as a pioneer in Livingston County, Missouri, in 1840, and he was married after coming to Missouri. On coming to Livingston County he took up a tract of eighty acres of Government land. It was situated in the midst of the timber, and his first task was cutting down trees to use in the con- struction of a log house. In that humble but characteristic home for the time all his children were born. In the early days supplies had to be freighted in by wagon from Spring Hill, Missouri, and he went through all the usual experiences, the hardships and the incidents of pioneering in a new country. Thomas Litton was a man of much enterprise and used his keen business judgment to acquire large holdings of land in Livingston County and that vicinity. In 1850 he paid $1,500 for 160 acres adjoining his original homestead, and extended his work of im- provement to the new land. Later another tract was added, of 240 acres, for which he paid $10 an acre. In 1863 he bought 160 acres in Daviess County, and that cost him $7 an acre. He was a stockraiser and besides a large estate left an honored name in his community. Thomas Litton was twice married. The children of his first wife, who died in 1847, are: George W., Elizabeth and Mary Ann. Later he married a Miss Myrier, a native of Kentucky, and there were nine children by the second union, those living being named: Eliza, Alexander, John S., Thomas, Sarah Ann.
George W. Litton grew up in Livingston County on the old farm, at- tended the district schools, which offered a very limited curriculum of instruction, and in 1861, when nineteen years of age, at the beginning of the war, enlisted in the Confederate State Militia under General Slack. His service as a soldier lasted nine months, and he was in four of the Missouri engagements during the first year of the war. These were at Carthage, Wilson Creek, Dry Wood and Lexington. In the battle of Wilson Creek, one of the most decisive in the western theater of the war, he was wounded. He was discharged in 1861, returned home, and after the war took up an active career as a farmer in Livingston County.
On May 21, 1865, Mr. Litton married Nancy Minnick, a daughter of John and Susan (Offield) Minnick, who emigrated from Virginia to Livingston County, Missouri, in 1842, and were also among the early settlers in that section. Mr. Litton has four living children, Mary, Jas- per, Isaac F. and Dora. The daughter Mary is the wife of John Bray of Lock Springs. Jasper married Allie Bray, and is an Idaho farmer. Isaac F. married Adda Jones, daughter of Benjamin Franklin and Marinda C. (Connor) Jones of Mooresville, Missouri. Dora is the wife of Edward Tye of Livingston County.
From 1865 to 1880 Mr. Litton was one of Livingston County's rep-
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