A history of northwest Missouri, Volume III, Part 65

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

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Seth H. White was born near Missouri City November 26, 1867. His grandfather, Jeremiah White, was born in Fayette County, Kentucky, September 15, 1812, emigrated to Missouri in 1834, and acquired his first land from the Mormons, who at that time comprised a large part of the population in this section of Missouri. His land was situated near Mis- souri City. In 1836 Jeremiah White married Elizabeth McQuiddy. He was a man of unusual enterprise, and possessed the adventurous spirit of early settlers. In 1850 he made the journey overland to California, as a gold seeker, and found employment on the coast with a surveying gang, carrying a chain at a wage of five dollars a day. Subsequently he managed a livery stable in Sonoma, California. His return home was made by way of the Isthmus of Panama, to New Orleans, and thence up the river to Clay County, where he remained quietly engaged in farm- ing until his death. Jeremiah White was a whig in politics, but all members of the subsequent generations have been democrats.

Benjamin White, father of Seth H. White, was born in Missouri City June 21, 1839. He married Sallie Marlatte, who was born in the north- eastern part of Clay County May 4, 1844. Her parents, Thomas and Mahala (Munkers) Marlatte, were from Kentucky and among the earliest of Clay County's pioneers. As to religion, all the early members of these families were Hard-shell Baptists. Benjamin White and wife are both still living on a farm in Clay County. They were the parents of three children: Seth H., James, of Clay County, and Carrie, wife of Charles Hart, of Clay County. Benjamin White at the beginning of the Civil war enlisted in the Confederate service in Scott County, and served until illness obliged him to leave the ranks in 1863. After that he lived in the West, in Colorado, until after the close of the war, and has since been identified with farming pursuits in Clay County.

Seth H. White was reared on a farm, attended the common schools, entered the State Normal School at Warrensburg, and in 1888 took up work as a teacher, and was successfully engaged in teaching rural schools for five years. Following this came an active period of farming in Mis- souri City, and in 1903 he engaged in the hardware business at Missouri City. Selling out his mercantile business in 1908, Mr. White retired to the farm, and was employed with its management until his election in

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the fall of 1912 to the office of sheriff on the democratic ticket. Mr. White on January 1, 1913, took up the duties of his office and has since had his home in Liberty.

Mr. White is affiliated with the Masonic Order, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias. On November 6, 1905, he married Mary C. Calvert, who was born in Clay County June 7, 1869, daughter of F. H. Calvert, who is still living in this county. Mr. and Mrs. White have one child, Ford, still at home.

OSCAR M. PETERS for the last twelve years has been associated with a group of men who are active as officers and directors of the Cosby State Bank, in the capacity of cashier of that institution, which is one of the strong and well conducted country banks of Northwest Missouri. For a number of years before taking up banking Mr. Peters was known in Andrew County as a teacher, and is a thoroughly educated, progressive and public spirited citizen in all his activities and relations with the community.

His home has been in Andrew County nearly fifty years, but he was born in Preble County, Ohio, October 22, 1864, a son of Joseph and Rebecca (Reddick) Peters. His father was born in Preble County near the birthplace of his son, while the mother was born across the state line in Indiana. In 1865 the family left Ohio and came to Northwest Missouri. They drove across the country in a wagon and there were seven families who comprised the party. Joseph Peters located on a farm three miles northwest of Cosby in Rochester Township, and spent the rest of his life in that vicinity as an active farmer. He retired to Cosby in 1891. He was born April 10, 1827, and died at Cosby January 25, 1911, when past eighty years of age. His wife was born January 16, 1831, and is now living in her eighty-fifth year in Cosby. Besides farming the father also did much business as an auctioneer, and for one term served as a judge of the County Court. Politically he was a republican. Dur- ing the Civil war. while living in Ohio, he was drafted for service, but paid the salary of a man who was working for him to go as a substitute. At that time help was very scarce, and almost all the burdens of farming fell upon his shoulders. After swinging a cradle in the harvest fields all day long. he would spend half the night binding up the grain. In Andrew County he and his family were members of the Long Branch Christian Church. The children were : Frances Ellen, who died May 10, 1913, married T. J. Fox, also deceased, who was for a number of years a merchant at Cosby: Mary H., who now lives with her mother in Cosby, married the late William A. Brooks, who was an auctioneer ; Edward M. is in the lumber and hardware business at Rushville, Missouri, but lived at Cosby a number of years and established the Cosby State Bank, and later was in banking at Rushville; Clara B. is the wife of T. E. Maughmer, a retired farmer at Union Star.

Oscar M. Peters has spent all his life in Andrew County since he was one year of age, with the exception of the time he was away at college. He attended the public schools, and for two years was a student in the Stanberry Normal School. After that his services were employed as a teacher, being principal of the schools at Rosendale two years. From 1895 to 1900 Mr. Peters was a student in Drake University at Des Moines, Iowa, and has the degree bachelor of didactic science from that institu- tion, spending one year in the university in the study of the sciences after his graduation. He later became principal of the schools at Union Star, and then spent a year in the same line of work at King City. In 1903 Mr. Peters took his present post as cashier of the Cosby State Bank,

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and for the past twelve years has devoted his entire attention to banking. While it is the nature of bankers to take a conservative attitude in busi- ness affairs, Mr. Peters has a genial personality which won him and the bank many friends and patrons, and he can be depended upon to support movements undertaken for the general welfare of this community.

Politically he is a republican, is a member of the Long Branch Chris- tion Church and has fraternal affiliations with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Modern Woodmen of America. In 1893 Mr. Peters married Carrie E. Strock. She was born three miles west of Cosby November 14, 1865, a daughter of Judge James F. and Minerva (Spence) Strock, who were natives of Kentucky and early settlers in Andrew County, and both are now deceased. Mrs. Peters before her marriage was also a teacher in Andrew County, and was in the Rosendale schools at the same time with her husband. While he was a student in Drake Uni- versity she took work in the music and department of expression in the same college. Mr. and Mrs. Peters have three children: Lucile Majorie Peters, born November 27, 1899; Virgil Leland Peters, August 4, 1906; and Mae Evalyn Peters, May 31, 1908.

JACOB HEINZ. The Town of Cosby in Andrew County is built largely on land originally comprised within the farm of Jacob Heinz, who since the railroad was built and the town started has been one of the most active factors in its development. Mr. Heinz is no longer engaged in active farming, having turned over the responsibilities of his land to his sons, and is now chiefly engaged as president of the Cosby State Bank. The other officers of the bank are: F. E. Kline, vice president; O. M. Peters, cashier ; and P. E. Newburn, assistant cashier. The Cosby State Bank has had a successful and prosperous record for a number of years, and a statement of business in November, 1914, showed its total resources to be nearly one hundred and thirty thousand dollars. It has capital stock of ten thousand dollars, with a surplus fund of a like amount. and undivided profits of nearly two thousand dollars. Its standing and popularity in the community is well indicated by its total deposits, which amount to considerably more than a hundred thousand dollars.

Jacob Heinz has spent about sixty years of his long and active life in Missouri, and is the example of a poor German boy who came to this country with no capital or resources except willing hands and for many years has been one of the prosperous and influential citizens. He was born in Wuertemberg, Germany, February 7, 1836, a son of Louis and Cather- ine (Meck) Heinz. His parents spent all their lives in the old country, but most of the children came to America. The five children were: Jacob; Kate, widow of George Haas of St. Joseph; Anna, widow of William Fick of Colorado Springs; Barbara, widow of Joseph Zimmer- man of St. Joseph; and Louis, who lives near Cosby.

Jacob Heinz left the old country, where he had been reared on his father's farm and had acquired a substantial education, at the age of eighteen, being the first of the children to leave Germany and find a home in the New World. His first location was at Weston in Platt County, Missouri, and he was employed in a blacksmith shop during the fall, and spent part of his time in the winter in work on a farm. He then moved to the country near Rushville, and was employed at different places in Platt and Buchanan counties as a farm hand until 1860. He then worked two years in various lines of employment, and during the war times served for three years in the Missouri State Militia. In 1863 Mr. Heinz bought a small piece of land near Rushville, and that was the start of his independent career which has been accumulating success ever since.

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In 1864 Mr. Heinz married Mary Mereoff, who was born in Germany, and died at Cosby in 1894. After his marriage Mr. Heinz continued farming near Rushville, and about 1875 came to Andrew County, and bought eighty acres of land lying across the line in DeKalb County. Later he bought ninety-six acres, comprising a portion of the present site of Cosby. At that time the railroad had not been constructed through this part of the country and when it was built the Town of Cosby was laid out around a station on the route. All that portion of the town lying north of Main Street is built upon land platted from Mr. Heinz's farm. When he bought this land he paid $30 an acre and it was considered a rather fancy price at the time. For the past ten years he has been retired from active farming, allowing his sons to conduct the seventy acres which still remain of the old homestead. Mr. Heinz has been president of the Cosby State Bank since its organization.

Politically he has been a republican since he became an American citizen, and has been identified with that party since Mr. Lincoln was first elected to the presidency. His church is the Methodist Episcopal. To his marriage were born four children: Louis, who is a farmer con- ducting the eighty acres bought by Mr. Heinz about forty years ago, situated in DeKalb County half a mile east of Cosby; Mollie, wife of Calvin Wild of St. Joseph; Gustav, a farmer in Monroe Township; and one that died in infancy. ·

FRANK E. KLINE. When Frank E. Kline began business as a mer- chant at Cosby twenty years ago he had only a thousand dollars in capital, half of which was borrowed, and his chief guaranty for success was a record of industry and integrity, and a thorough confidence on his own part in his ability to meet obstacles as they should come up. This con- fidence has been well justified by his record of accomplishment since that time. Mr. Kline is a general merchant, handling hardware, implements, dry goods, groceries and other .general merchandise. At the present time he carries a stock of goods valued at about fifteen thousand dollars, and also owns the building in which his store is conducted. He has been one of the leading factors in the development of this thriving little village of Andrew County. In 1913 he conducted the Kline Opera House, 36x60 feet, a two-story frame building, covered with galvanized sheeting. In 1913 he also built and has since operated the electric light plant, which supplies lighting current for most of the town. He is vice president of the Cosby State Bank and is one of the first group of half a dozen men who controlled most of the affairs in that locality.

Franklin Elliott Kline was born in Madison County, Illinois, Decem- ber 27, 1868. His father, Godlove Kline, was born in Maryland in 1824, a son of Godlove and Nancy (Byerly) Kline. Both parents were native of Saubia, Germany, were married in the old country, and soon after- wards set out for the United States. The vessel on which they were passengers was shipwrecked, and only they and one passenger were rescued. On arriving in Maryland all their possessions were sold to pay for the passage. Later the family moved from Maryland to Ohio, and the grandfather died there, while his wife passed away at Madisonville, Illinois. Their children were August, John, Stephen, Godlove, Elizabeth and Mary.

Godlove Kline, father of the Cosby merchant, was married in Vinton County, Ohio, to Nancy Byerly, who was born in Vinton County in 1827. In 1856 they moved to Madison County, Illinois, lived there and at Quincy until they moved out to Bates County, Missouri, in 1877, and in the fall of the same year located at Rochester in Andrew County. There

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the father passed away in 1897 at the age of sixty-six, and his wife died in February, 1907, at the age of seventy-nine. Godlove Kline spent his life as a farmer, and had a large estate in Illinois. There were eleven children, namely : Mary Elizabeth, wife of John Kurth of Cosby; Isa- belle, who died when about twenty-one years of age; Melsina, who died in infancy; Jacob I., of Springfield; Margaret, wife of G. Roper of Stubblefield, Illinois; Elijah, who died in Bates County, Missouri, when about forty years of age, leaving a widow and four children; Kate, wife of A. L. Nash of St. Joseph; John W., who lives in Savannah; Daniel, who died at the age of two and a half years; Mazie, who died in 1902 as the wife of Robert Hawk; and Franklin Elliott.

Frank E. Kline has been a resident of Andrew County since 1877, when he was nine years old, and received most of his education in the local schools here. For ten years he was employed in a store at Rochester for his brother, J. W. Kline, and there gained a thorough training and experience in merchandising. For two years he was employed in the Artesian Ice Plant at St. Joseph. It was on April 9, 1895, that Mr. Kline started in his present business with the limited capital and facili- ties already noted. Politically Mr. Kline is a republican, and for eighteen years served as postmaster at Cosby, from April 22, 1897, to January 1, 1914. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America.

On May 2, 1894, he married Mary Snowden, who was born in Andrew County, a daughter of Judge Jonathan and Mary Elizabeth (Carson) Snowden, now deceased, and early settlers of Andrew County. Mr. and Mrs. Kline have five children: Maggie May, who died at the age of eight years; Fred B., who is now attending high school at Savannah; Harold, Frank and Marion.

WALTER SCOTT HUDSON. Few names are more widely or favorably known in Northwest Missouri than that of Hudson, which family has contributed men of worth and substance to professional and business circles, and to military and public life.

The name Hudson, since the first progenitor came over from England, has always been associated with pioneer work and pioneer developments. Nearly all of them have been pioneers, pushing westward with the early stages of civilization.

Walter Scott Hudson, the subject of this sketch, was a descendant of William Hudson, about whose history, at this time, but little is known. The records in the family show that in 1702 William Hudson pur- chased from William Penn 1,600 acres of land in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, for sixteen pounds. This land is about twenty miles north of Lancaster City. Penn had a provision in the deed that eight acres of the land should be deeded by Hudson to the church, the reservation being in the following words: "Eight acres of land as a site for a house in which to worship Almighty God." This land is still held by the church, and as one building wore out with age, another and better one has taken its place, and today there is a fine large Presbyterian Church on this same site, known as the "Blue Bell Church."

George Hudson was the son of William Hudson, and like his father was a pioneer. He inherited his father's 1,600 acres of land, making him immensely rich for that day, but he soon sold it and settled at "Wagoner's Gap," Pennsylvania, near Carlisle, in Cumberland County, and five years later he removed to "Shade Gap," Pennsylvania, where he spent his remaining days.

He was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and was one of General Washington's scouts on the night of December 25, 1776, when he crossed

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the Delaware River with his army in three divisions. The night was cold, dark and stormy; the river was crowded with broken ice sweeping down its rapid current, making the crossing so difficult that only the division commanded by Washington in person succeeded in getting over. Hudson had preceded the army by several hours, had selected the landing place on the Trenton side, and, standing on the bank of the river with his clothes frozen to his back, pointed out the landing for the troops as they arrived. He was also engaged in the fight with the Hessians at Trenton at 8 o'clock the next morning.

On the 11th day of September, 1777, George Hudson took the oath of allegiance under the act of the General Assembly of Pennsylvania, passed June 13, 1777.

George Hudson was married to Isabella Buchanan, an aunt of Presi- dent James Buchanan, on the 9th day of May, 1775, and had thirteen children, seven sons and six daughters. He purchased a large tract of land adjoining "Shade Gap," part of it having been granted by John Penn, Thomas Penn, and Richard Penn, presumably heirs of William Penn. He built his first house, which was a mere cabin, and later estab- lished a woolen and grist mill, which were of great value to the early community, and also built a Presbyterian Church. He was a justice of the peace appointed by the governor, and held the office many years; was a man of fine qualities and good judgment and great usefulness and influence. He was a Scotch Presbyterian, and a man of strong faith. The exact date of the death of George Hudson is not known, but he signed his will April 26, 1819, and it was proved March 12, 1821, in Huntington, Huntington County, Pennsylvania.

Walter Buchanan Hudson was a son of George Hudson and Isabella (Buchanan) Hudson, and was one of the pioneers in Western Pennsyl- vania, having located at Shirleysburg (at that time Fort Shirley), in Huntington County. He married Eliza Barton, daughter of Kimber A. Barton, of Shirleysburg, Pennsylvania. Mr. Barton was the first post- master of Shirleysburg, appointed February 22, 1805, and served until February 13, 1824.

Walter Buchanan Hudson was a man of powerful physique and a man of scholarly attainments. He was very accurate and a practical lawyer, giving instructions in that science to young men of that day. He was a man of books, and spent much of his time in the study of philosophy, astronomy, and the languages, and without the aid of a teacher or the advantages of early education, made wonderful attainments in the knowl- edge of these branches. He died at the age of sixty-seven years. The exact date of his death is not now known, but it was about 1850-54. Eliza (Barton) Hudson died in the year 1857.

Walter Buchanan Hudson was a justice of the peace in his home town for many years, was a man widely known and of large influence in the community. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church, in which he had been reared, and like his father was a man of strong faith.

Walter Scott Hudson was a son of Walter Buchanan Hudson and Eliza (Barton) Hudson, of English ancestry on both sides. He left his native Town of Shirleysburg, Pennsylvania, in the early '20s, locating in Peoria, Illinois. Being a civil engineer, he was employed to assist in locating the first railroad that crossed the State of Iowa. This was in the early '50s and before the outbreak of the Civil war. He came from Huntington County, Pennsylvania, his birthplace, his natal date being May 4, 1831. He was liberally educated at Shirleysburg, Pennsylvania, where a reputable college was maintained, and for a time taught school in Pennsylvania. He gave instructions to pupils in surveying, a subject that was then regarded as of great importance.

Upon discontinuing his activities in railroad work, Mr. Hudson came

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directly to Worth County, which was then a part of Gentry County, and secured the appointment to the position of deputy surveyor. Subse- quently he took up a homestead in the Worth end of the county, and took up teaching again in order to add to his meager income. Mr. Hud- son surveyed off Worth County from Gentry County, and later surveyed the county seat, Grant City, and the original plat of Grant City is in his handwriting.

After the organization of Worth County, Walter S. Hudson was elected county surveyor, a position which he held for something like twenty years. In 1868 he was elected assessor of Worth County, holding the two offices, assessor and surveyor. In 1870 he was elected clerk of the Circuit Court of Worth County, Missouri, which office he held four years. He was elected justice of the peace several terms, was always loyal to democratic principles, and was identified with the political life of the county from the time of his advent here in the fall of 1856 until his death, which occurred July 9, 1882. He took an interest in all schools, their organization and their welfare, and in the bringing of the railroad to Grant City he played an important part. He proved up on a homestead which he took and part of which he held until his death, and all his investments were made in lands of the pioneer sort.

In his manner he was one who made his visitors feel at ease and com- fortable, and never departed from that culture which he brought with him from the East.

Mr. Hudson was somewhat reserved as a conversationalist, seldom told his guests a story, had an unusual memory, and was a man who practiced accuracy in the little things of life. For instance, he insisted that his children should close the door in just such a manner, that they should never cross their legs in the presence of company, that they should be seen to laugh and not to be heard, that they must use their right hand . in writing, and many other "straight-jacket" rules. His characteristics or the absence of them, however, were most pronounced. He was not a man of dress, allowing himself to wear an old hat or a pair of shoes until long after they were worn out, wearing a collar or going without one as the case happened, and never making an apology for his personal appearance. He retained friends always. He was rather slow to make them, but attachments once formed were invariably lasting. It is said of him that he made no enemies, and a reason for this lay in permitting his rights to be imposed upon frequently and suffering himself rather than make an enemy of some neighbor by rebuking him.

In the matter of legal forms, Walter S. Hudson was an adept. He possessed the requirements to draw up deeds, mortgages, and contracts according to law and was the only man in the county who was relied upon for those things before the days of printed forms. He was a splendid penman, and did his best in everything that he undertook. He had refined literary tastes and was an accomplished musician. Brought up in the faith of the Presbyterian church and always maintained an interest in church work and ministers. No man demonstrated more integrity than he did, and in every word and act was just what he pretended to be.

He occasionally delivered public utterances, although he did not pose as a speaker or orator, and his speeches were given reluctantly, and only when he was urgently pressed to do so, but his mastery of the vocabulary was sufficient for him always to have the right word at the right time and place. He became one of the early members of the first Masonic lodge organized in Worth County, at Allendale, and was one of the first secretaries of the lodge, and not since his regime has that body had a recording officer who has approached him in the nicety and care with which he kept the records of the order.

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A history of northwest Missouri, Volume III, Part 65

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