A history of northwest Missouri, Volume III, Part 46

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

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Among Peter Norton's children was Thuel, who was born March 10. 1801, in Oneida County, New York, and died at Hiram, Ohio, April 2, 1880. He was about six years of age when the family moved to Ohio, and grew up to manhood among pioneer surroundings. He lived the quiet and unostentatious life of the farmer, was devoted to church and was a neighbor whose many acts of practical charity have not yet been forgotten in that part of Ohio. While this article does not call for an extended sketch of his career, a few sentences concerning some of the prominent attributes of his mind and character should be quoted from a memorial address delivered after his death: "Unobtrusive, quiet, con- servative, attending strictly to his own affairs, he was respected of all, lived at peace with his neighbors and without an enemy in the world. He was known in the community as the one man in a hundred who has something of his own to do and does it. When he passed along the streets you knew that he was on no mission of evil gossip. When he knocked at your door you knew that Father Norton was on no errand but of peace. Too timid to enter into or enjoy general society, he still loved his friends with a fervor and a constancy of a great heart and was

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happy in the society of a limited circle. He naturally shrank from doing business, and could never think of speculation. Everything, he thought, should be worked out or grow up. He knew of no other methods of mak- ing money. His life has been one of great toil and he could not give it up even in old age. With him honest work was good company. Often imposed upon because he thought everyone honest and truthful, he still trudged on, slowly but honestly making his living and serving those dependent upon him. While the noisy, busy world rushed past him and men now and then arose in his sight to higher points of wealth and fame, he ate bread the world knew not of, and amassed wealth where moths and rust do not corrupt, and where no cheat can wrong him."

Thuel Norton was married August 4, 1822, to Harriet Rebecca Har- rington. Their children were: Anna; Seth D .; Edwin; Amelia C .; Julia M .; James; Lois E .; Emily E .; Richard C .; Harriet R.

The late Richard C. Norton thus came of some of the best American stock. His family was closely associated with the sterling pioneers that made up the community about Hiram, Ohio, a society possessed of the high ideals of New England culture, thrift and sobriety, and centered about the educational institution which has long made Hiram known to the outside world, Hiram College, an institution of higher learning con- ducted under the auspices of the Christian Church, of which James A. Garfield was at one time president. Richard C. Norton grew up in that community, spending his early life on the farm, and supplementing the training of the public schools with a course in Hiram College while Mr. Garfield was president. From early life he came into contact with scholarly men and Christian gentlemen and along with broad culture acquired the true courtesy of the heart and the fundamentals of Chris- tian character. At the age of sixteen he had begun his career as a teacher in the public schools near his old home. While still a boy he united with the Christian Church, and was always a faithful member of that denomination.

He had hardly reached his majority when the Civil war broke out and was one of the youthful soldiers who volunteered and served with the Forty-second Ohio Regiment of Infantry, with James A. Garfield as its commander. After serving for more than two years he was discharged on account of ill health March 18, 1863.

Soon afterwards Mr. Norton determined to give his life services as an educator to the newer country of the Middle West, and in the spring of 1865 came to Trenton to take the position of principal of the public schools. He remained at the head of the Trenton schools for ten years, and many of his old pupils are still living in this section of Missouri. From Trenton he became vice president of the State Normal School at Warrensburg, resigning that position to become president of the Cape Girardeau Normal, and was at the head of that institution for thirteen years, until ill health compelled him to resign. Later he took a chair of instruction in the Kirksville Normal, and was also a member of the board of regents and was connected. with the Kirksville schools for six years. Again ill health compelled him to give up his regular duties as an edu- cator, and after that he kept his residence at Trenton, a city which he had considered his home practically ever since coming to Missouri. Dur- ing his residence at Cape Girardeau Mr. Norton was given the degree LL. D. for distinguished services in the cause of education and for his great learning. He was affiliated with Trenton Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and was laid to rest under the rites of Masonry, and was also a member of Col. Jacob Smith's Post, G. A. R.

On March 17, 1864, the late Richard C. Norton married Miss Mariah Lucretia Mason. They had no children, and Mrs. Norton is now living

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at Trenton in the old home. Mrs. Norton is likewise a representative of one of the pioneer families of Eastern Ohio. She is a descendant from Elijah Mason, who was born in Lebanon, Connecticut, in 1756. Elijah Mason belonged to a prominent New England family, one of whose mem- bers was Capt. John Mason of the Pequot Indian war, and another was Jeremiah Mason, prominent in national affairs and an associate of Daniel Webster. Elijah Mason married for his first wife Mary Marsh and for his second Lucretia Green, who was a relative of Gen. Nathaniel Green, one of the conspicuous leaders in the Revolutionary war. Elijah Mason first came out to Ohio in the spring of 1802, buying several tracts of land near Hiram, and with the aid of his sons cleared up some of the first land put in cultivation in that region. However, he did not be- come a permanent settler of Portage County until 1816, when quite an old man, and lived there until his death in June, 1833, at the age of seventy-seven.

HIRAM M. TRAVIS. One of the few remaining pioneers of Harrison County who came here prior to the county's organization is Hiram M. Travis who is now living in quiet retirement at Albany after many years passed in agricultural operations. Mr. Travis came here in 1840, with his father, Beverly Travis, a full-blooded Irishman and a son of David Travis, who came to America prior to the War of the Revolution, in which he served as a soldier of the patriot army. He settled in Tennessee and died there in Overton County. Whom he married is not now a matter of attainable record, and of his sons and daughters the only ones whose names are remembered are Beverly and Isaac.

Beverly Travis emigrated to Missouri from Illinois, but had formerly left the State of Tennessee for the West, winding up his wanderings in Missouri. He lived for a brief time in McLean County, Illinois, and his inclination to get out on the frontier where land was cheaper and where opportunites for his growing and numerous family were greater, caused him to make his way to where plenty of room could be found. He came by way of ox-wagon and crossed the Mississippi River at Quincy, Illinois, the journey being made without special incident save the night camp and the study of the wilds as the little party threaded the sparsely settled counties toward the frontier.

Beverly Travis located five miles southeast of Bethany, before that town was thought of and when the present County of Harrison was still included in the territory of Daviess County .. The public domain had not yet been surveyed, nor was it on the market for entry, but as soon as it was advertised for homestead entry Mr. Travis filed on land near where the present town of Blythedale stands, a tract which he proved up and patented and on which he had his home during the remainder of his life. He was identified with his county purely as a farmer, but although a man somewhat handicapped by lack of educational advantages demonstrated his ability as a business man and agriculturist and at his death left his family well provided for. He died in the faith of the Christian Church, of which he had long been a member. He did not aspire to public life, but had a creditable military record as a soldier during the War of 1812, during which he served under Gen. William H. ("Old Tippecanoe") Harrison. His death occurred in August, 1845, when he was about fifty-two years of age.

Beverly Travis married Miss Lydia Allen, a daughter of William Allen, of Overton County, Tennessee, and a sister of Rev. John S. Allen, the well-known business man and pioneer of Bethany, and the Christian gentleman and worthy citizen who filled many places of trust in Harri- son County. Mrs. Travis died in 1872, at the age of seventy-five years,

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being the mother of the following children: Mary, who became the wife of Mathew Taylor and spent her life in Harrison County; David, who remained around Bethany as a farmer and died here leaving a family ; Elizabeth, who married Joseph Gillespie and still lives in Harrison County at the advanced age of ninety-four years; William, who spent the greater part of his life in Harrison County as a farmer but died in the Town of Bethany, leaving a family ; Nancy, who became Mrs. William Alexander and died in Harrison County; Julia, who married Gibson Ansley and died in Alton, Kansas; Hiram M., of this review, who through life has been familiarly known as "Mac" Travis; Thomas, who died on the Sacramento River in California, without issue; Rachel, who married Elkanah Timmons and passed her life in Harrison County ; and Samuel, who died in Hennessey, Oklahoma, and left a family there.

Hiram McGinnis Travis was born in Overton County, Tennessee, February 3, 1829, and was a lad of eight or nine years when the family emigrated to the State of Illinois. The schooling of any value which he received was obtained in Harrison County, Missouri, and was of a sub- scription character, of course, and there is no doubt as to the log- cabin appearance of the house in which he studied. He learned his father's vocation, farming, and at the age of fifteen years began making his own living thereat, his first home being established in the community in which he was reared. He entered land and enjoyed the presence of prosperity, continued to reside in that township for fifty-three years, and when he left the farm disposed of it, and in 1909 came to Bethany, where he has since lived quietly, enjoying the fruits of his long years of toil. His old home is now owned by Charles Dobkins. While he belonged to no church himself, Mr. Travis believed in church work and the elevating effects of religious movements, had faith in its good influence and aided substantially in the erection of Morris Chapel.

During the war between the North and the South, Mr. Travis was a member of the Sixth Missouri Cavalry, Captain Page, Colonel Cather- wood, he enlisting in 1862 in Company G of that organization. His service was given altogether in Missouri and he took part in skirmish- ing at different points, had a horse shot under him, and before his time expired was taken ill with typhoid fever and lay in the Sedalia Hospital until recovery, soon after which he was discharged. In politics, Mr. Travis is a republican, although his brothers and father were democrats. He cast his first ballot for President for Buchanan, he having been reared a democrat, and in 1860 voted for Stephen A. Douglas. When. Fort Sumter was fired upon all his democracy left him, however, and in 1864 he voted for President Lincoln. He has continued to vote regularly for the nominees of his party ever since, and has no apologies to make for his record. He has never filled a public office save when he was a member of the school board while living in the country.

In 1849 Mr. Travis went to California by the usual route, across the plains, being a member of a small company, of which he is the sole sur- vivor, and went up the Platte River to Fort Laramie, down the Humboldt River, and on to Sacramento, then going to the diggings east of Stockton, where he spent the winter in mining. The following spring he went up on Trinity River and worked all summer, and his trip proved to be of some profit to him in the way of "dust," he returning home after an absence of four years, by water, crossing the Isthmus of Nicaragua, going then by boat to New Orleans, up the Mississippi River to St. Louis and by way of the Missouri River to Camden, from whence he made his way to his home.

The marriage of Mr. Travis occurred January 30, 1848, when he was united with Miss Mary Gillespie, a daughter of Moses Gillespie, who

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came to Missouri from Ohio and was a farmer. Mrs. Travis died in 1868, the mother of these children : Amanda Jane, who married Samuel Speer, of Trenton, Missouri; Lydia, who became the wife of Jacob Cannon, of Lock Springs, Missouri; Susan, who married Jackson Smith and died at Meriden, Kansas; Beverly, who died at Jamesport, Missouri, leaving a family ; Eliza, who married Andrew Hornbeck, of Des Moines, Iowa; Butler, a resident of Seattle, Washington; and George, whose home is at Ridgeway, Missouri.

Mr. Travis was married a second time, March 30, 1870, when he was united with Miss Elizabeth Jacobus, a daughter of James and Eliza Jacobus. Mr. Jacobus came originally from the State of New York, but left his home in the Empire State for the West and passed away in Fulton County, Illinois. He was the father of five children, as follows : Jackson, who passed his life as an agriculturist in Fulton County, Illi- nois, and there passed away; Jefferson, who enlisted in the Union army at the outbreak of the Civil war, was wounded in Battle, and returned to his home, where he died from the effects of his wound; Elizabeth, who became Mrs. Travis; John, who also entered the volunteer service during the Civil war, was wounded in battle and died in an army hospital; and David, who died at Peoria, Illinois. Mrs. Travis was born November 3, 1835, in Decatur County, Indiana, and went to Illinois with her parents when a child of ten years. She was married first to Andrew Taylor, and they were the parents of two children: Alice, who is the wife of Jehu Gillespie and has six children, Joseph, Myrtle, Christina, Amy, Belva and Robert ; and Frances, who married Thomas Thurman, and died in Knox County, Illinois, leaving three children.

Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Travis: Carrie, who died unmarried as a young woman of nineteen years; David, who is a resident of Bethany, Missouri; Leona, who became the wife of Edward Melvin and died at Bethany, leaving two children, Jewell and Bessie; and James, a resident of Bethany, who married Effie Williams and has five children, Garland, Carrie, Mary, Madaline and Maxine.

JOHN W. HAIGHT. Wide-awake, energetic and progressive, John W. Haight, of St. Joseph, was clearly destined to be the architect of his own fortune. Having begun on a low rung of the ladder of attain- ments, he has made diligent use of his faculties and opportunities, and by untiring energy and wise management has proved himself an emi- nently useful and worthy citizen, and an important factor of the busi- ness and social life of the city. A son of Isaac Haight, and grandson of David B. Haight, he was born in St. Joseph, Missouri, in 1873, of pioneer ancestry.

His great-grandfather, Caleb Haight, was born in New York State, of Welsh ancestors. He chose the independent occupation of a farmer, during his earlier life being engaged in agricultural pursuits in his native state. He subsequently migrated to Illinois, and after living there a few years removed to Utah, and spent his last days in Salt Lake City.

David B. Haight was born in the Empire State, near the Catskill Mountains, and was there reared and educated. He began his career as a farmer in Cayuga County, New York, remaining there a number of years. In 1840, following the march of civilization westward, he made an overland journey to Illinois, where he lived two years. Crossing then the Territory of Iowa, he lived for two years in the vicinity of Council Bluffs, but not pleased with the prospects in that region came from there to Missouri, locating in Platte County at a time when nearly all of the land in Iowa and Missouri was owned by the Government. Wild animals of all kinds were plentiful, even the buffalo were still roam-

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ing at large. Taking up land, he carried on general farming for a time, and then removed to Jefferson. County, Kansas, where he spent the remainder of his days. His wife, whose maiden name was Clarissa Reckmeyer, was born in New York State, and died in Platte County, Missouri. They were the parents of eight children, as follows: Frances, Isaac, Julia, Nora, Martha, Annie, David B., and Benjamin.

A native of New York, Isaac Haight was born in Venice, Cayuga County, September 18, 1836. Four years of age when his parents started westward, he was eight years old when they settled in Platte County, Missouri, where he attended the district schools for a time. At the age of eleven years he was sent to Weston to learn the blacksmith's trade, but not liking the work he ran away at the end of four weeks in search of more congenial labor. He found employment on a farm at $10 a month, and from that time was self-supporting, earning his living at various employments until reaching the age of eighteen years. Then, in 1854, he entered the employ of Ben Halliday as a driver, and started west- ward with an emigrant train, driving a team of mules attached to the wagon in which Mr. Halliday's family were traveling. The train, which consisted of about twelve wagons, with four mules to each wagon, started in the spring of the year for San Francisco. Denver had then no place on the map, and Salt Lake City was but a small village.

Arriving on the present site of San Francisco after several months travel, Mr. Isaac Haight remained in camp a number of weeks, and then accompanied the Hallidays back to Missouri, coming by way of the Isthmus, and the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. Then, in the employ of Major & Russell, he again crossed the plains to Salt Lake City, and was afterwards employed by others in teaming to the far West, making in all eighteen trips across the plains. He was but four years old when he began trekking towards the West with his parents, and he is now one of the living men that have covered the entire distance from New York to the Pacific Coast by team, and is also one of the few living that teamed across the plains in the employ of Ben Halliday and Major & Russell, and one of the very few that ever rode the "pony express," which was too heavy for continuous service.

In 1861, at the breaking out of the Civil war, Isaac Haight was in Denver, which was a mere hamlet at that time. He returned home intend- ing to enlist in the Confederate army, but his family demurred, and he entered the employ of the United States Government as a teamster and wagon master, and served until the close of the conflict, seeing service in Missouri, Kansas and Arkansas. Returning then to Denver, he spent a year there, and then came back to St. Joseph, where, with the excep- tion of one year in Montana, and two years in Platte County, he has since been a resident, the greater part of the time being employed in teaming.

On September 3, 1871, Isaac Haight married Elizabeth Jane Woady, who was born in St. Joseph, Missouri, November 11, 1857. Her father, Elisha Woady, was born near Louisville, Kentucky, and as a young man came to St. Joseph, Missouri, where he spent the remainder of his life, passing away in 1859. The maiden name of the wife of Mr. Woady was Jane McIntosh. She was born in Kentucky, near Barbourville, a daughter of Jesse McIntosh, who left his native state, Tennessee, when young, and until 1850 resided in Kentucky. Starting westward then with his family, Mr. McIntosh stopped first in Indiana, then in Illinois, from whence, in 1852, he came by boat to St. Joseph, Missouri. Locat- ing then in Andrew County, he carried on general farming until his death, which occurred a few months later. He married Jean Smith, who was born in Virginia, of Scotch ancestry, and died in St. Joseph in

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1878, at an advanced age. Mrs. Jane (McIntosh) Woady, Mr. Haight's maternal grandmother, was left a widow in early womanhood, and sub- sequently married for her second husband Mr. Abraham Lytle. She lived to the good old age of four score years, passing away February 15, 1913. Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Haight are the parents of seven children, namely : John W., Clara J., Jessie G., Samuel H., Nora C., Hazel H., and Elsie E.

Gleaning his elementary education in the public schools, John W. Haight began his active career when a boy by working in a blacksmith's shop for $1.50 a week. At the end of two months he gave up his job, and soon after began learning the trade of a lozenger maker with the National Biscuit Company, with whom he served an apprenticeship of three years. He subsequently continued with that company for five years, when he resigned and went to Chicago, where he remained two months. Coming back to St. Joseph, Mr. Haight was solicitor and collector for the American Wringer Company until 1902. During those years he enjoyed life as young men do by spending liberally, when he left that company having but $38 with which to engage in business. With that limited capital, Mr. Haight started in the furniture business, having no store, but soliciting trade for eighteen months. Succeeding in his undertakings, he subsequently opened a store on St. Joseph Avenue, where he has since carried on a prosperous business, being now rated among the popular and substantial business men of the city.

Mr. Haight married, November 21, 1894, Katie Ford, a daughter of Henry and Bridget Ford, of St. Joseph, and they have two children, Gertrude and Dorothea. Mr. Haight cast his first presidential vote for William J. Bryan, and has since been a consistent supporter of the principles of the democratic party. He is active in local affairs, and has served as a member of the executive committee for both the city and the county.

Fraternally Mr. Haight is a member of the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks; of the Improved Order of Red Men; of the Fra- ternal Order of Eagles; of the Modern Woodmen of America; of the L. O. O. M .; and of the K. and L. of S. He is also a member of the Commerce and Monroe clubs; of the Missouri and Amazonian Gun clubs; and of the North St. Joseph Hunting Club.

JAMES BARNETT GRAHAM, M. D. A Jameson physician of seventeen years residence, Doctor Graham represents old family stocks in Northern Missouri, and men and women of the name have lived worthy and useful lives in the Grand River Valley since almost the beginning of develop- ment there. Doctor Graham is the son of a physician and practical business man, and in his own career has increased the favorable associa- tions of the name in this part of Missouri.

James Barnett Graham was born at Gentryville, Missouri, October 18, 1874, a son of Dr. George and Martha Jane (Dobbins) Graham. His father was born in Ohio, but was brought when a child to Missouri, where grandfather John Graham was a pioneer of Grundy County. The latter was a miller, and during his lifetime operated mills at various points along the Grand River, and at one time or another had asso- ciated with him all of his six sons. These six sons were Doctor George, James, John, William, Alfred and Oliver, and there was one daughter, Emeline, who married Henry Whitten.

Dr. George Graham was well educated, and after attending the Grand River College at Edinburg entered the Missouri Medical College at St. Louis. After graduating he located for practice at Lindley, in Sullivan County. While there he met and married Martha Jane Dob-

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bins. She was of a prominent family in Sullivan County, where she was born. Her parents were Thomas and Sarah (Kirkpatrick) Dobbins, who not long after their marriage in their native county of Sangamon, Illinois, set out with a wagon and ox-team for Missouri. The first year was spent in Livingston County, and Thomas Dobbins then moved to Sullivan County and became the first settler at and founded the Town of Lindley. His home was in the midst of an almost untouched wilder- ness, abounding in wild game. In order to pay for the land which he entered from the Government he split 30,000 rails, and the industry with which he began the task of home-making was the sure foundation of a bountiful success, measured afterward by the ownership of 1,500 acres and a position as one of the most influential citizens. He lived at Lindley until his death in 1896 at the age of eighty-two, his wife having passed away at the age of seventy-two. They were the parents of the following family: Mrs. Polly Ann Humphreys, George, John, Charles, Mrs. Eliza- beth Cook, Mrs. Margaret Bailey, Mrs. Martha J. Graham, William, Mrs. Kittie Moberly, Mrs. Linda Lane, Mrs. Hattie Doolin and Timothy. Politically the Dobbins family was usually found supporting the repub- lican ticket, and all were good church people.

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A history of northwest Missouri, Volume III, Part 46

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