USA > Missouri > A history of northwest Missouri, Volume III > Part 64
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Captain Knickerbocker was the last one of his parents' children to pass away. His death occurred January 27, 1915, and with the excep- tion of his own children and those of his brothers he knew of no other Knickerbockers. By his first union Captain Knickerbocker was the father of six children: Lewis, who is a resident of Fall City, Ne- braska; Florence May, who married L. M. Woodcock and is a resident of Seattle, Washington; Cora, who married M. S. Ingersoll of Seattle, Washington; June, who is a resident of Savannah; Charles, who died at the age of two years; and Peter, who died when eighteen months of age.
Captain Knickerbocker was married a second time in 1868 to Sarah Jane Warner, who was born in the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, December 25, 1833, and came from that state to Illinois with her parents. To this marriage there were no children born.
As an expression of the high esteem in which Captain Knicker- bocker was held by his fellow citizens, it may not be inappropriate to quote the following, which appeared in a local publication, in closing this all too brief review of one of Northwest Missouri's most representative citizens: "Among those who have been active in com- mercial and political affairs of Andrew County for the past half century, there are none more worthy than Capt. F. Knickerbocker, whose office
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is in the courthouse of Savannah. At an advanced age he is still active and strong, mentally and physically, now serving a term as justice of the peace, having been elected after finishing the term of the late Cap- tain Mercer by appointment. Captain Knickerbocker is a lawyer of ability, is a notary publie and has an insurance agency representing six old-line companies. He was a captain in the State Militia service during the entire Civil war. While a resident of Fillmore he was elected county attorney several years, was appointed postmaster by President Harrison, serving four years, including two years of Cleveland's ad- ministration. He is known as a pioneer citizen of ability and integrity, reliable in all business dealings, and is held in high esteem by his fellow citizens here, purely upon his merit as a citizen, thoroughly capable and deserving. His life is worthy of emulation by the younger set."
R. E. GIBSON. The Farmers and Merchants Bank of Hamilton, of which R. E. Gibson is cashier, is one of the strong and conservatively managed financial institutions in Northwest Missouri. Its officials and stockholders are in the main farmers and stoek men and among the most substantial citizens of Caldwell County. The present officials of the bank are: I. M. Hemry, president; J. C. Haynie, vice president; Henry Gee, vice president ; and R. E. Gibson, cashier. The capital stock of the bank is $25,000, and it offers complete banking service to the com- munity.
R. E. Gibson was born at Browning, Missouri, on a farm, May 8, 1887. His father, S. L. Gibson, is one of the most prominent bankers and business men in Linn County, Missouri. He has assisted in the organization of a number of banks, has been a stockholder and bank official, and acquired his early capital by a successful career of farming and stock raising. He is president of the Bank of Sumner and has influential relations with a number of other institutions in that seetion of the state. He has three sons, all of whom are bankers: A. E. Gibson is cashier of the Bank of Livingston County; L. E. Gibson is teller in the Night and Day Bank of St. Louis; while R. E. Gibson is cashier of . the Farmers and Merchants Bank of Hamilton.
R. E. Gibson was reared in Linn County, educated in the high school at Browning, and took a course in the Country Business College in Illinois. He got his early training in banking in one of the St. Louis institutions before he was twenty-one years of age, and for five years was connected with the Kansas City Bank. In 1912 Mr. Gibson came to Hamilton, and has since occupied the post of eashier. He knows banking in all its details, and his thorough experience in large metropolitan banks has given him exceptional qualifieations for handling the business of the Hamilton institution.
Mr. Gibson was married in Kansas City, Missouri, to Miss Hazel L. Billingsley, a daughter of D. F. Billingsley, a well-known citizen of Kansas City. Mr. Gibson and wife have one son, R. E., Jr., now three years of age. Mr. Gibson is a democrat in polities, is affiliated with the Masonic Order, and his wife is a member of the Methodist Church.
ERNST OPPENLANDER. Industry and laudable ambition have charae- terized the course of this energetic and progressive representative of the agricultural industry in Holt County. He has depended entirely upon his own exertions in making his way to the goal of independence and worthy success and is now the owner of an excellent farm of 165 acres, eligibly situated in Nodaway Township. Mr. Oppenlander eame
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from his native land to the United States when a lad of thirteen years and was accompanied by his brother John, who was at the time fifteen years of age. They severed the home ties in Germany and thus set forth to win for themselves such success as was possible in the land of their adoption, neither of the adventurous youths having had cause to regret the decision that brought them as strangers to a strange land.
Mr. Oppenlander was born in Germany on the 13th of July, 1872, and is a son of John and Louisa (Gebhardt) Oppenlander, neither of whom ever came to America. In his Fatherland Mr. Oppenlander acquired his early education and at the age of thirteen years, as already noted, he came with his older brother to the United States. Soon after landing in New York City they made their way to Missouri, and in Holt County they found employment, principally in connection with farm work. After being in the service of others for seven years Ernst Oppenlander decided to initiate an independent career as a farmer, and from that time forward his advancement has been substantial and productive. He had carefully saved his earnings and the year after his marriage he and his young wife established their home on their present farm, which comprises most fertile and productive land and upon which he has made, within the comparatively short period during which the property has been in his possession, greater improvements than have been accomplished by many farmers who have held their proper- ties for long periods. Energy and progressive policies significantly dominate the course of Mr. Oppenlander, and his farm gives every evidence of thrift and prosperity, with all things in good order and with buildings that are substantial and modern, these having been erected by the present owner of the property. Mr. Oppenlander is not self-centered in his activities but is always ready to do his part in the furtherance of measures tending to advance the best interests of the community, the while he is deeply appreciative of the advan- tages and opportunities that have been afforded him in the state of his adoption. He is a republican in politics and both he and his wife hold membership in the German Methodist Episcopal Church.
At the age of twenty-eight years Mr. Oppenlander married Miss Lillie Hoffmann, daughter of Frederick Hoffmann, of Holt County, and they have, two children: Hazel, born August 16, 1903; and Leone, born February 4, 1912.
REV. EDWARD HENRY ECKEL, B. D., for upward of nine years and until May 1, 1914, rector of Christ Church parish (Episcopal), was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on November 5, 1862. He was grad- uated from Rugby Academy, Wilmington, Delaware, in 1880; received his A. B. degree from Delaware College, Newark, Delaware, in 1886; and B. D. from the General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church, in New York City, in 1889. During a portion of the time in which he carried on his studies he gave music lessons and taught in private schools, also engaging in missionary work as a layworker. He was ordained deacon by Bishop Coleman, of Delaware, in Holy Trinity ("Old Swedes") Church, in Wilmington, on June 16, 1889, and priest in St. James Church, near Stanton, Delaware, on May 28, 1890.
Rev. Mr. Eckel was rector of St. James' Church, near Stanton, St. James' Church, Newport, and St. Barnabas' Church, Marshallton, Del- aware (the last named being organized by him), from 1889-91; rector of Trinity Church, West Pittson, Pennsylvania, from 1891-96; rector of Christ Church parish, Williamsport, Pennsylvania, 1896-1905, re- signing the last to become rector of Christ Church parish, St. Joseph,
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Missouri, March 1, 1905. Elected field secretary of the Province of the Southwest at the primary synod of the province in Muskogee, Oklahoma, in January, 1914, he took up the duties of this office May 1st.
He was the founder and first president of the Church Students' Missionary Association of the Episcopal Church in 1888, while a student in the seminary, an organization which has had a continued existence since then and has been instrumental in directing the energies of a large number of young people of both sexes towards the mission fields of the church. He has been a member of the advisory board of this association for a number of years. He has been a member of the Joint Diocesan Lesson Committee for Sunday Schools since about 1895; a member of the General Committee of the Church Congress since about 1902; a provisional deputy to the General Convention of the Episcopal Church from the Diocese of Central Pennsylvania in 1897 and 1901; a. deputy from the Diocese of Kansas City (now called West Missouri) in 1907 and 1910, in both of which he was a member of the Committee on the State of the Church, and in the latter convention the vice chairman of this committee, as well as a member of the Committee on the Admis- sion of New Dioceses. He has been a delegate from the Diocese of Kansas City to the Missionary Council of the Sixth Department and to the Missionary Council of the Department of the Southwest (Seventh), in 1908, 1909, 1913, 1914 and 1915. He was offered the position of field secretary of this missionary department in 1909, but declined. When elected to the same position under the new provincial organization in 1914, he accepted, as stated above, and is now engaged in this work, which requires almost constant travel and public speaking in Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico. He was also appointed a delegate to the Pan-Anglican Congress in England from the Diocese of Kansas City in 1908, but was unable to attend.
Rev. Mr. Eckel was examining chaplain to the Bishop of Central Penn- sylvania from 1898 to 1905; a member of the committee on the increase of the Episcopal endowment fund, 1901-04, and chairman of the commit- tee on the same and on the organization of the new Diocese of Harris- burg in 1904; a member of the committee on diocesan apportionment in 1902-03, a member of the board of missions of that diocese, 1904, and dean of the northern convocation of the Diocese of West Missouri from 1905-14; a member of the standing committee (the Bishop's council of advice) from 1906 to 1914; a member of the diocesan missionary board from 1909 to 1914; a member of the diocesan committee on constitution and canons since 1906, and chairman of the same since 1909. Rev. Mr. Eckel was nominated for the Bishopric of Harrisburg in 1904 and for that of the Diocese of Kansas City in 1911.
Rev. Mr. Eckel organized the Pittston Library, making it a popular public institution ; he organized the Williamsport Bureau of Associated Charities, now defunct ; he was a deputy representing the City of Wil- liamsport in the National Conference of Charities and Correction in New York City, in 1898 ; a trustee of the James V. Brown Public Library, Williamsport, in 1904: one of the organizers and a director of the Buchanan County (Mo.) Society for the Relief and Prevention of Tu- berculosis. 1910-11 : and a director of the St. Joseph Art Society, 1911-13. He was for several years a member of the Commerce Club of St. Joseph and a member of some of its committees. He organized St. Luke's Mission, South St. Joseph, in 1906. His fraternal relations are with the Masons, in which he is a thirty-second degree Mason and a member of the Royal Arch, and with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He was a member of the Benton Club and the Country Club
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of St. Joseph, and from October, 1912, to May, 1914, he was chaplain of the Fourth Regiment Infantry of the National Guard of Missouri. Since resigning the rectorship of Christ Church Parish, St. Joseph, he has removed with his family to Warrensburg, Missouri, where his son, the Rev. Edward Henry Eckel, Jr., is rector of Christ Church.
On June 27, 1889, Rev. Mr. Eckel was married to Miss Anna Todd Reynolds, the ceremony taking place in St. Andrew's Church, Wilming- ton, Delaware. Three children were born to them. Edward Henry; Elizabeth; and Albert Reynolds; the last named died in 1913. The first named took his B. A. degree in the second class of the honor school in theology in Oxford University, England, in 1913, having won a Rhodes scholarship while a student in the University of Missouri, and a year later he graduated with the degree of B. D. from the General Theological Seminary in New York City. He has since been ordained a deacon and priest by Bishop Partridge. Miss Eckel, after filling posi- tions in public libraries of Cincinnati, Ohio, is at present living at home.
E. POWELL. Because of the extent and quality of his achievements, his financial soundness and acumen, his public spirit and integrity, and his generally excellent record as agriculturist and citizen, E. Powell, of Clay Township, Holt County, furnishes an encouraging example of success gained through the proper use of everyday ability and oppor- tunities. Of him it may be said that his life work is a response both to his early teaching and the needs of his positions as he has reached . them. He has laboriously climbed every round of the agricultural ladder, and now, in his declining years, he may look back contentedly over a career characterized by steadfast perseverance and unquestioned in- tegrity, satisfied in the knowledge that his handiwork has been good.
Mr. Powell was born in Kentucky, October 10, 1838, one of the five children of David and Jane (Riddle) Powell, the others being John, Mary, Nancy and Lucy. He early met with handicaps in life, for when his mother died he was placed in the hands of strangers to rear, who were so mercenary that they kept the lad almost constantly at work, leaving him but little time to acquire an education. Thus he grew to manhood, and when the war between the South and the North broke out, his southern sympathies caused him to enlist in the Confederate army, with which he served for two years during the latter part of the struggle, but received his honorable discharge prior to its close. He was married in his native state to Miss Charlotte Elizabeth Nute, and they subsequently became the parents of two children, both born in Holt County, Missouri : Charles W., who married Maud Duncan, and has two children, Homer K. and Mary Catherine; and Sallie A., who married Frank Gibson, and has two daughters, Hazel and Irene.
In 1869 Mr. Powell left the state of his birth and with his young wife traveled by rail to Forest City, Missouri, from whence they drove through by team to Holt County. For the first year they lived on a rented farm, but in 1870 Mr. Powell bought the present home place, erecting the house in that same year. Subsequently as the years passed he put up other buildings and installed other improvements, all the present structures having been built by him with the exception of the barn, which the son built. This tract of 160 acres is now one of the fertile, productive and well-managed properties of Clay Township, and yields large and valuable crops of grain, which are fed to the cattle, Mr. Powell having for some years been extensively interested in stock raising. He also carries on general farming, and in each of the branches of his vocation has met with success. Mr. Powell is now somewhat
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retired from active life, having reached the age of seventy-six years, but supervises the operations on his property, which are being carried on by his son.
Mrs. Powell died September 24, 1911, at Maitland, in the faith of the Presbyterian Church. She was a devout Christian woman and an excellent helpmate to her husband, while in the community she was beloved and respected for her many qualities of heart and mind. Mr. Powell and his children are members of the Christian Church, and he and his son have always been firm and unwavering democrats. While he has not sought office for the emoluments or honors thereof, Mr. Powell. has been always ready to serve his community, and for a number of years was a director and member of the school board. His upright and public spirited life has attracted to him the confidence and esteem of the community, as well as the warm friendship of many who, like himself, have developed with the forces within rather than without.
HON. CHARLES F. BOOHER. When the Fourth Missouri District reelected Charles F. Booher to Congress in November, 1914, it insured the retention in the House of Representatives of a faithful and able public servant, a man who has already spent eight years in Congress, and whose long career as a lawyer in Northwest Missouri and whose ripe experience and judgment insure the wisdom of his choice as a popular representative.
Charles F. Booher was born at East Groveland, Livingston County, New York. January 31, 1847, a son of Henry and Catherine (Updegraff) Booher. His father was a native of Switzerland and his mother of Germany, and both were brought to America in early childhood by their respective parents. They were reared in New York State and married in Livingston County, where they spent the rest of their lives on a farm. The mother died in 1859 at the age of forty-four, and the father in 1886, aged seventy-four. Congressman Booher's father was a great reader, and was well posted in political history. Throughout his career he voted with the democratic party. Both parents were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. They reared ten sons and one daughter, and three of the sons and the daughter are now deceased. The sons, Henry, Samuel and James, were all soldiers in a New York regiment during the Civil war, and Sam was killed at Blackwater River, Virginia, and is buried in the National Cemetery at Hampton. James died several years after the war as a result of wounds. The son Henry now lives at Geneseo, New York.
Charles F. Booher was reared on a farm in Livingston County, New York, and lived in that vicinity until 1870, when he came west and located in Andrew County. Here he taught school, worked on a farm, studied law and was admitted to the bar at Savannah in 1871. Alto- gether he taught school for about seven years. Mr. Booher practiced alone until 1888, and in that year formed a partnership with I. R. Wil- liams, a firm that is now one of the oldest in the Andrew County Bar, and Booher & Williams have since controlled a large amount of the best legal practice in the Savannah courts. Since Mr. Booher's election to Congress his son Lloyd has been the active member of the firm, though its title still remains Booher & Williams.
Mr. Booher has always affiliated with the democratic party, and in his earlier public career served as prosecuting attorney of Andrew County and as mayor of Savannah. He was elected to Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Hon. James N. Burris, and in 1906 was elected a member of the Sixtieth Congress and has been regu- Vol. III-28
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larly reelected, his recent election in 1914 qualifying him for his fifth successive term. Mr. Booher is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
In 1877 he married Sallie D. Shanks of Rochester, Missouri. To their marriage have been born four children: Lloyd W., a young attor- ney and partner of his father; Prince L., who is his father's private secretary at Washington ; Nellie, at home; and Helen W., wife of G. E. Hines of Kansas City, Missouri.
EDWARD L. WATSON. Of the native sons of Holt County who are carrying forward the work commenced by their fathers, many years ago, mention is due Edward L. Watson, whose well cultivated farm is found in Clay township. Born September 11, 1871, he is a son of John W. and Selah (Offutt) Watson, who were married at Oregon, Missouri, to which place John W. Watson was taken by his father when a lad. In 1869 John W. Watson moved to Holt County and located on the old homestead in Clay Township, on which he has continued to reside to the present time, and which now consists of 443 acres. At that time this section was a raw prairie, with no promises of the civilization that was to develop it into one of the most fertile parts of Northwest Missouri. Roads there were none, save the Indian trails, for the Indians were still numerous here at that time and were frequently fed at the home of the Watsons, with whom they were on the best of terms. The wild game at that time was so plentiful that the hunters would not think of going after such small game as ducks, and on a number of occasions Mr. Watson brought home four deer as the result of one day's shooting. The house that he put up not long after his arrival is still standing and was erected on a corn field, as is evidenced by the fact that the withered stalks still stand under the house. John W. Watson still survives, one of the oldest pioneers of his locality. Primarily a farmer, he has never been a seeker after political honors, but has served his community faithfully as a member of the school board. The mother passed away in May, 1914, leaving four children, all of whom were born on the old homestead in Clay township: Edward L., of this review; L. H., who married Lena Lutz; C. N., who married Gertrude Foster; and Elmira, who married F. A. King.
Edward L. Watson was reared amid the rural surroundings of his father's home and acquired an ordinary education in the district schools. He was reared to the pursuits of the farm, and has continued to devote himself thereto throughout his life. At this time he is the possessor of eighty acres of well-cultivated land, on which he has made the greater number of improvements, his present home having been enlarged from the original two-room house that was built on this property as early as 1865. His operations in general farming and stockraising have been uniformly successful, and his success has come to him through the medium of his own efforts and perseverance. Fraternally, Mr. Watson is a member of the Woodmen of the World. He has not engaged to any considerable extent in public affairs, but has always been ready to lend his aid to beneficial and progressive movements, and has the entire confi- dence of his community as a man of the strictest integrity.
Mr. Watson was married in Holt County, to Miss Clara Goodhart, who was reared in this county, although born in Ohio, a daughter of John A. and Minerva (Buckingham) Goodhart, the former born in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, and the latter at Richmond, Ohio. The parents of Mrs. Watson came to Missouri in 1874, settling in Holt County. where they have spent their remaining years in the pursuits of the soil. The mother is of the old school Baptist and the father of the Methodist Epis-
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copal faith. They had two children: Clara, who became Mrs. Watson; and Oliver C., a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Woodmen of the World, who is engaged in farming in Holt county, and who married Laura Shield, by whom he has three children, all born in this county : Ethel, Theodore and Bryan. Three children have come to Mr. and Mrs. Watson, all born on the present farm : Dale, born January 9, 1895; Imogene, born August 16, 1896; and Velma, born October 3, 1903. They have been given good educational advantages, and well trained for the places in life which they will be called upon to fill.
SETH H. WHITE. Elected sheriff of Clay County in 1912, Seth H. White represents the progressive farming element and the substantial rural citizenship of his section of Northwest Missouri. Mr. White is a practical and successful farmer, has a large acquaintance and is very popular in his home county, and by experience and native ability is well fitted to discharge the important duties with which his fellow citizens have intrusted him. Mr. White, besides his official connections with one of the most important counties in this quarter of the state, is further identified with the region through his pioneer family relationships, since the Whites were among the first settlers and did their share in developing the country from the wilderness.
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