A history of northwest Missouri, Volume III, Part 37

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

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The boyhood of Ezra H. Frisby was passed in the vicinity of Bethany, where he secured his early education in the public schools, following which he graduated from Bethany High School and entered the law department of the University of Michigan, where he was graduated with his degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1883. Having completed his education, he was admitted to the bar of Michigan in the fall of 1882, and to the bar of Missouri in 1883, the latter upon examination before Judge Goodman. He was admitted to the bar in Marion County, Kansas, in 1886, but never practiced his calling except in Missouri. Mr. Frisby associated himself with Judge S. W. Vandivert, as Vandivert & Frisby, which combination was dissolved by the judge's removal to Kansas, and for some years Mr. Frisby practiced alone. His second partnership was with Judge Daniel S. Alvord, as Alvord & Frisby, which covered a period of twelve years and was dissolved by the death of Judge Alvord, and

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Mr. Frisby's present partnership with his son, Frank M., was formed in 1911.

Mr. Frisby's first important law case was his prosecution and con- viction of Freeman J. Cochran for the murder of Stanbrough, the prisoner being convicted and sent to the gallows. Another murder case which he prosecuted was that of Mrs. Frances M. Linthicum for the killing of her child, but the jury brought in an acquittal. In his political life Mr. Frisby is a republican, and his first presidential vote was cast for James G. Blane, since which time he has never lost an opportunity of voting for presidential candidates of his party. He was secretary of the county central committee for several years and his campaign work comprises speeches in local campaigns. He attended the national re- publican convention at Chicago in 1908, when Taft was nominated, and was present as a spectator at the St. Louis convention in 1904, when Colonel Roosevelt was nominated for President. Mr. Frisby was elected county attorney of Harrison County in 1888 and again in 1890, and succeeded in office George W. Barlow. He was elected to the State Senate in November, 1904, at a special election to fill the term of Lieutenant-Governor Mckinley, and filled this term with one session of the Legislature, his district comprising the counties of Harrison, Mercer, Grundy, Putnam and Livingston. His entry of the Senate marked his service in a democratic body and a republican house, and he served just the one term and then retired. Mr. Frisby was made a member of the Committee on Education, the Committee on Penitentiary and Reform, which started the work on the new buildings at Jefferson City, and the in- vestigating committee which was sent to St. Louis to investigate the Kerns-Niedringhaus senatorial contest.

Mr. Frisby was one of the organizers of the Harrison County Bank and has been a director thereof since its inception, acting in a like capacity with the Bethany Savings Bank, was one of the incorporators of the Bethany Hardware Company, and president of the Bethany Printing Company, also holding large shares of stock in various other corporations of the town. He has had farming interests all of his life and at the present time has six different properties in Harrison County, being also extensively interested in wheat raising near Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, where he is cultivating some 4,000 acres of land. As a builder of Bethany he erected his residence on the corner of Brush and East streets, and also is the owner of eight business houses here." In various ways and in numerous positions he has assisted in the material, industrial and civic development of this town. During four years he was city attorney, and from 1886 until 1890 he served in the capacity of mayor, but during this time nothing more was done beyond the routine business, although his administration was an exceptionally able and prosperous one. Fraternally Mr. Frisby is a Knight Templar Mason and belongs to the Knights of Pythias. His boyhood was passed under the influence of Christian parents of the Presbyterian faith.

On April 20, 1885, Mr. Frisby was married at Eureka Springs, Arkansas, to Miss Eva M. Tucker, a daughter of James G. Tucker, formerly of Harrison County, Missouri, and a native of Bethany. Mr. Tucker married Rhoda J. Howell, and both now reside at St. Joseph. Mr. Tucker is a native of Virginia and passed the active years of his life as a farmer. His children.were four in number : George M., Thomas O., Mrs. Frisby and Lee. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Frisby, namely : Miss Lane, a graduate of the New England Conserva- tory of Music, attended Northwestern University, Chicago, and Randolph- Macon College, Macon, Virginia; Frank M., schooled in Missouri Univer- sity, where he took a literary course, and the University of Michigan,

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where he graduated from the law department in 1898, since which time he has been engaged in practice, with his father since 1911; and Miss Lottie, who died in 1912, while attending the Bethany High School.

JAMES KENNISH. One of the successful farmers of Holt County and a citizen always held in high esteem 'is James Kennish, who has spent most of his life in the vicinity of Mound City. Mr. Kennish is a man of thorough industry, has applied his energies to the complicated tasks of farming with the best results, and in all his relations stands honorably toward his community.

Mr. Kennish is a Manxman, that is, a native of the Isle of Man, where he was born June 8, 1862. His parents were William and Catherine (Kello) Kennish, and their family comprised thirteen children, one of whom died young. When James was a child they emigrated to America, and first lived near Oregon, Missouri. They possessed exceedingly modest means, and in 1872 acquired a tract of 240 acres about six miles north- west of Mound City. It was unimproved land, excepting a small acreage under plow, and the father showed great enterprise and determination against obstacles in providing for his family and improving his farm. That was the home of the parents as long as they lived.

James Kennish acquired a country school education, and worked for his father a number of years. Finally he and his brother, Thomas, rented the home place on shares, and finally Mr. Kennish bought a quarter section of land east of Mound City. In 1897 he married Gertrude Strat- ford Saunders. They have two children, Lois and Johnnie, both of whom were born in Holt County.

Mr. Kennish lived on his first farm until 1900, and then rented a half section for two years and then bought 240 acres of this half section. He now has a farm of 240 acres, all in a body, and he is one of the representa- tive and prosperous farmers of Holt County. His work has been along general farming lines, and there are few men in Holt County who have surpassed him as a producer of regular staples, and as a breeder of Poland China hogs he stands in the front rank. He has also handled Shorthorn cattle, and makes a practice of breeding and raising only the. best grade stock. Mrs. Kennish is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In politics Mr. Kennish is a republican. Of Mr. Kennish's family, his brother, John, is a member of the Utilities Commission, having been appointed by the governor, and lives in Jefferson City, Robert is deceased, Thomas lives on a part of the home farm, Edward is a farmer in Arkansas, Anna and Maggie live in California, Christian is a resident of Colorado, Catharine lives in Mound City, Ellen resides near Mound City, Jennie resides on a part of the home farm, and Alice lives with her brother, Edward, in Arkansas.

WILLIAM LORIN WEBB. In Harrison County, on the road between Bethany and Cainsville known as the Coal Valley Trail, is a farm home that suggests the solid comforts of country life and the enterprise of a successful citizen. For the past six decades there has been no family whose general position and activities have been more useful in the com- munity than the Webbs. The farm just referred to belongs to William L. Webb, who has lived in this section all his life, having been born on the old Webb homestead two miles south of Mount Moriah, December 19, 1856.

His father was the late pioneer Joseph Webb, who came into Missouri in 1844 and a dozen years later settled in Harrison County. The grand- father was Jonathan Webb, who was born in Connecticut while the Revolutionary war was in progress, and whose activities were identified

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with the tilling and management of the soil. After his marriage he was crippled by a fall from a loft onto a cook stove, and remained so for life. His career was spent in several states of the Middle West, and from Iowa he moved to Harrison County not long before the war and lived there with his wife until his death at the age of eighty-nine. He married Elizabeth Henisey, of English stock, and she lived to eighty-two, and both are buried at Mount Moriah. Of their children one daughter married a Mr. Smith and lived in Iowa; Catherine married Henry Levan and lived in Nevada; Mrs. Millie Warnock had her home in Iowa; Ephraim, whose home was in Columbus, Ohio, was a preacher and for many years in the employ of the railroads at the union station there, and was so well thought of that the company built him an overhead room for holding his preaching services; Jonathan was a farmer whose life was spent about Mount Moriah; and Edward, who lived and died on a farm at Warren, Missouri.

Later generations in Harrison County will do well to remember and honor the memory of such men as the late Joseph Webb. He was born in Wayne County, Pennsylvania, June 24, 1820, and during his youth, which was spent partly in his native state and partly in Ohio, all his schooling was compressed in not more than three months. He came to know several states and many localities along the frontier, and was living in Iowa when he became of age. There he bought twenty acres of land, paid for it from his wages of $8 a month as farm hand, and after locating his parents there and thus giving them the means of providing for themselves, he set out to make his independent fortune. Working here awhile and there awhile, he finally reached the vicinity of St. Louis. Out of his earnings he bought a horse to transport himself from place to place, and when near St. Louis loaned this animal to a stranger to drive cattle and as he was sick at the time that was the last he saw of his horse. When he recovered he began chopping cordwood at 25 cents a cord, and in this way began working back to financial independence. He remained for some time in St. Louis County, working for farmers, and eventually acquiring a team and some other property. An interest in a threshing outfit proved the most profitable venture so far. During the several years he operated the machine he showed such industry and application that even his marriage called him away from his duties only one evening, when he drove to St. Charles and was back in the following morning.

His first visit to Harrison County was made on horseback, and during an inspection of the country about Mount Moriah he discovered the knoll upon which he subsequently settled, and then rode to Bethany to enter the land. Collins Hamilton, a carpenter on the river nearby, was hired to build his first house, a log building, with a very few comforts and conveniences, and with only a dirt floor the first winter. Most. of his children, if not all of them, were born in that home. On moving from St. Charles County, he headed a considerable cavalcade, consisting of two yoke of cattle, a horse team and an extra horse pulling a phaeton, with a darky and an Irishman as drivers of the teams. He also had $500 in money, and during the first winter Mr. Webb and the Irishman split out rails and hauled them sufficient to fence in 100 acres. This land having been enclosed and broken up the following spring, he planted his first crop of corn and began a successful career of farming in the new country of Northwest Missouri. The range was then open and a large part of his profits came from the cattle and other livestock that he kept in increasing numbers on the pastures. He employed system and con- servatism in the management of his business affairs, but usually bought any kind of stock that his neighbors offered for sale, and in this way his dealings became extensive. His first important venture was the buying of

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100 head of work steers, which he fattened and drove to Osceola, Iowa, as the shipping point. He continued feeding and shipping his own stock, and buying and fattening others, and was a regular and large shipper to the Chicago market for a number of years. The profits which came to him he invested in land, and as fast as he added a farm to his holdings he rented it. He loaned a large amount of money, and some land came to him through mortgages. On the whole, he was a buyer more frequently than a seller. One of his policies was to buy all the corn offered by his neighbors, and he frequently had rows of rail pens piled high with corn that cost him 10 cents a bushel, and this he either kept until better prices could be secured or fed to his hogs and cattle. In his granary was always . a supply of wheat for his bread, and so far as known there was never a time when he did not have an ample margin of corn beyond the needs of his stock. Apparently everything he touched turned to money under his management, and his land holdings at one time comprised 2,000 acres nearly in one body.

As a citizen he was patriotic and at the outbreak of the Civil war tried to enlist. Sometime before during an illness he had been salivated and his teeth came out, a condition which rendered him incapable of duty as a soldier. His physician at Princeton, to whom he reported for examina- tion, told him to go home and not think of enlisting because he could not eat, let alone bite a cartridge and do other things required of a soldier. Failing to go himself, he sent a substitute, Robert Baker, and also provided seven mounts from his stock for the militiamen of the state. Politically he confined his interest to casting a vote for democratic candi- dates, while his father and brothers were all republicans, the former originally a whig. He was a Missionary Baptist in church affairs, and also a Knight Templar Mason.

A few years after the war Joseph Webb engaged in merchandising at Cainsville with J. H. Burrows, and that was a successful partnership for several years, and later was at Mount Moriah for several years. Still later he became identified with banking, first at Lyons, Kansas, where his son-in-law, Mr. Deupree, organized a bank. Later he joined another son-in-law, J. W. Pulliam, at Little River, Kansas, in the organization of a bank, and when his youngest daughter married G. W. Hanna his assistance was extended to the latter in the establishment of a bank at Galvia, Kansas. Mr. Deupree, Jo Slatten, Joseph Bryant and Mr. Webb organized banks at other points in Kansas, and they were successful in- stitutions until the panic of 1893 and the crash of small banks all over the. West, when their "second loans" brought bankruptcy, and Joseph Webb was a heavy loser. Joseph Webb was a man of strenuous activity all his life. While not of large physique, he weighed 180 pounds, was stout as a mule and could lift 900 pounds, only one man in Missouri having ever proved his superior in this feat of strength. He was always in the lead when work was to be done, and he could never bear to see anyone idle. His own children were put into the harness of practical work at an early age, and he impressed them with the value of time. If a rain drove his workers to shelter, he always had some task ready to hand until the weather cleared. If nothing else, there was wood to chop or stable to clean.

Joseph Webb married his first wife in St. Charles, Missouri, but she died in nineteen months without children. His second wife, whom he married in 1854, died in seven months. In February, 1856, in St. Charles County he married Elizabeth Cockrell. She became the mother of eleven children, and the eight who grew up are mentioned : William L .; Martha L., wife of E. A. Deupree, of Dora, Missouri; Charles T., a farmer of Mount Moriah; Mary C., wife of J. W. Pulliam of Lyons, Kansas; Joseph

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E., of San Diego, California; J. Richard, a farmer at Mount Moriah ; Sarah E., wife of George W. Hanna, of Kansas City; and James A., of Bethany, Missouri.

The extensive business relations of Joseph Webb furnished a scene of action already prepared for his son, William L. Webb. He obtained an education from the country schools, but began farming when eight years old. Plowing was about his first important service, and by the age of fifteen he was counted as a full hand in the harvest field. His father used him a great deal in his stock operations, and he often went to Prince- ton for the thousands of dollars needed to pay for the stock when it was assembled at such points as Clinkinbeard's, at Cheney's near Ridgeway, and also at Mount Moriah where Joseph Webb put in the first scales. Until the railroad came the shipping was done through Osceola, Iowa, and later from Princeton. Among other experiences Mr. Webb became ac- quainted with merchandising and spent two years of his early manhood in running a store at Mount Moriah, and this was a practical addition to his general education.

When Mr. William Webb married he located on one of the tenant places of the family homestead, and the next year came to his present farm. At the time there was a fairly good house, but it burned and was. replaced by the present residence. Much of his 260 acres Mr. Webb rents, but in the course of thirty years all the improvements represent his practical work and judgment. He is a stockholder in the Bank of Mount Moriah, to which his father stood in a similar relation. Mr. Webb was the pioneer in using the road drag along his own highway, known as the Coal Valley Trail. He is a democrat in state and national questions, but supports the man who will give service on local matters. He has served as secretary of Mount Moriah Lodge of Odd Fellows, and his household is represented through his wife and daughter, Zoe Louise, in the Methodist Church.

April 24, 1881, Mr. Webb married Miss Carrie Mumma, the youngest child of John and Mary (Blount) Mumma. Her father died at Win- chester, Indiana, and was buried at his birthplace, Middletown, Ohio. His wife was a daughter of Ambrose Blount, who was a doctor and who had a son, a famous dentist at Springfield, Ohio. After the death of John Mumma his widow came to Missouri in 1869 and married George Stewart of Mount Moriah, where she spent her last days. The other chil- dren besides Mrs. Webb were: Charles, of St. Joseph; Ambrose, who was killed while a soldier in the Union army ; Eliza, who married Daniel Kent and died in Harrison County ; John, of Kansas City; Mary, who married Elias M. Riley and died in Harrison County, leaving a daughter, Mrs. Doctor Stoughton, of Ridgeway. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Webb are mentioned briefly as follows: James Edwin, who was killed by a horse when four and a half years old; William Earl, a farmer, who married Grace Coffman and has two children, Joseph Paul and Freida Elizabeth ; and Miss Zoe Louise, who graduated from the Bethany High School and attended the University of Missouri at Columbia, and is now teaching in the Mount Moriah schools.

WILL C. BALDWIN. Harrison County has profited by the stable citi- zenship and unfaltering industry of the Baldwin family since 1857. Practically all bearing the name have been interested in agriculture, but their services have been extended also to business, finance, politics, education, religion and society. Will C. Baldwin, a resident of Martins- ville, president of the Farmers' Insurance Company, and widely known as a farmer, is the representative of the third generation of Baldwins in Harrison County. He was born in his present locality in Dallas

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Township, October 4, 1860, and his old home is still in the family, it having been entered from the United States Government by his father in 1857.

Ezra Baldwin, the grandfather of Will C. Baldwin, entered the land upon which Martinsville is now situated and made that his home until he passed away in 1884. He was a New York man, born in that state in 1800, and was there given good educational advantages, eventually adopting the profession of law, at Detroit and in other cities of Michigan. At one time he was a member of the Michigan Legislature, and prior to the organization of the republican party gave his support to the whigs. Mr. Baldwin came West to secure homes for his children from the public domain, and what little he had to do with affairs in Harrison County was as a farmer. Mr. Baldwin was a good business man and died leaving a landed estate. He married Mary McClung, an Irish girl, born in County Armagh, Ireland, who came to the United States in 1819, when she was twenty years of age, and she passed away in 1886. Their children were as follows: Ezra T., the father of Will C. Baldwin; Edward, who was a resident of Texas when the Civil war came on, served in that struggle as captain of a company of Texas troops in the Con- federate service, returned successfully to his home and took up the practice of law, and spent his latter years in Harrison County, Missouri, where he died; Sarah, who gave many years of her life to school teach- ing, married George Raines, and died near Mount Ayr, Iowa; and Alexander, who died unmarried.

Ezra T. Baldwin, father of Will C. Baldwin, was born at Birming- ham, Michigan, March 24, 1837, and spent his boyhood in that city and at Detroit, where his father practiced law. He was given the privileges of a liberal education, and this assisted him greatly in after years, when it enabled him to surpass the business qualifications of the average of his fellowmen in Missouri. He was early able to see the future of Mis- souri lands, and acquired a great amount of other land adjacent to his original entry, mentioned before, becoming one of the leading farmers of his part of Harrison County, and at his death deeding his property to his children in common, in which form it still stands. Mr. Baldwin was residing in this county when the great struggle between the North and the South swept across the country, and he gave his support to the Union, not only morally, but as a soldier. For several years of the war he held the rank of lieutenant, and his service was principally in Mis- souri, but although evidence has it that he was at all times a brave and faithful soldier, in later years he would say little about his service, and he seldom took part in the meetings or activities of the Grand Army of the Republic. In political matters he was a republican, and was an active man in that sphere, attending numerous conventions and state meetings, particularly in early days. In 1872 he was elected to the office of county treasurer of Harrison County, but with the expiration of his four-year term his public services ceased. As a business man, Mr. Bald- win was one of the main factors in the organization of the Bank of Martinsville, and at the time of his death was its chief executive. Fra- ternally, his connection was with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, assisted to organize the lodge at Martinsville, and filled its chief chair for a long period. A man of determination and initiative, he always had his plans ready and complete and followed them to the letter, while he left behind him a record worthy to be studied by posterity, for his great success was built up on nothing more than his disposition to achieve.

Mr. Baldwin was united in marriage with Miss Margaret Clark, a daughter of Thomas Clark, who lived and died in Ohio, and who was

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engaged in agricultural pursuits. Mrs. Baldwin passed away in 1878, at the age of forty-two years, having been the mother of four children, as follows: Will C., of this review; Elmer, who is a successful farmer and owns a property in the vicinity of Martinsville; Miss Lucile, who is engaged in teaching public school in Harrison County; and Miss Hattie May.

William C. Baldwin had access to the Stanberry Normal after the public schools, and after his graduation therefrom, in 1884, entered upon his career as a public school teacher. This he followed for some eight years, doing work at Martinsville and became popularly known, but during this time did not discard the vocation of farmer, an occupation in which he had been reared. At the time of his marriage he located at his present home, where he has continued to reside to the present time and to be successfully engaged in farming and stock raising, pursuits for which he has demonstrated great adaptability.

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A history of northwest Missouri, Volume III, Part 37

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