A history of northwest Missouri, Volume III, Part 72

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

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JAMES S. TOWNSEND. With the exception of two years, when in his young manhood he was engaged in clerking at Bolekow, James S. Town- send has passed his entire life on the farm and has devoted his entire energies to agricultural pursuits. For nearly thirty years he has resided on his present property, which is known as East View Stock Farm, located in section 8, Platte Township, Andrew County, a community in which he is known as a progressive and practical agriculturist and a public- spirited citizen who has ever been ready to assist his community's de- velopment.

Mr. Townsend was born in Andrew County, about two miles north of Savannah, May 5, 1855, and is a son of Jonathan and Kittie Ann (Land- ers) Townsend, a sketch of whose lives will be found in another part of this work. The third in order of birth of his parents' six children, James S. Townsend grew up amid rural surroundings, and passed his boyhood in much the same manner as other Missouri farmers' sons, assisting in the work of the homestead during the summer months, and securing his education in the country schools during the winter terms. He remained under the parental roof until 1880, in which year he went to Bolckow for an experience in merchandising, as a clerk, but after two years thus spent returned to the pursuits of the soil, first buying a farm west of Bolckow, from the Rev. Willis Sapp, one of the well-known properties of this local- ity. Mr. Townsend remained on this farm for four years, at the end of which period he sold out and bought his present tract, at that time known

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as the Daniel Hildman farm, a property including 187 acres, on which he has made his home since March, 1886. This has since been renamed by Mr. Townsend, and is known now as the East View Stock Farın, Mr. Townsend making a specialty of raising all kinds of high grade stock for the market. He has made numerous substantial improvements on his land, including two sets of modern buildings, and in every respect the property reflects the enterprise, thrift and progressive ideas of its owner. Mr. Townsend is well and favorably known in business circles of Andrew County, and has various outside holdings and interests, at this time being a stockholder in the Union State Bank, of Bolckow, with which he has been identified since its organization. He has done much to "boost" the agricultural interests of this part of the state, and is an active and working member of the Whitesville Interstate Corn and Poul- try Show. Politically a democrat, he has taken only a good citizen's interests in matters of a political character. He has long been a devout member of the Whitesville Baptist Church, and at this time is serving in the capacity of deacon.

Mr. Townsend was married in 1882 to Miss Louisa Baum, who was born in Benton Township, Andrew County, Missouri, March 10, 1859, daughter of John and Christina (Frick) Baum, natives of Germany, who came to the United States as young people. During the last fifteen years of her life Mrs. Baum made her home with Mr. and Mrs. Townsend. Two children have been born to this union: Prudie, who is the wife of W. S. Miller of Platte Township, and had three children,-Eugene, who died January 16, 1908, at the age of two years, four months, Reed and Marjorie ; and Vergie, who is the wife of Samuel Goforth, of Platte Town- ship, and has had three children,-James Laverne, who died in infancy, Virginia, and Winfred Dale.

JAMES FRANKLIN MUNKRES. The claim of James Franklin Munkres upon the good will and confidence of the people of Andrew County rests upon his long residence here, his high standing as a public-spirited and stirring citizen, the success of his labors and the development of a good agricultural property, and the straightforward manner in which all of his dealings have been carried on. Mr. Munkres is now the owner of Brook- dale Farm, a well-cultivated tract of land located in section 26, Benton Township, which has been developed under his supervision into one of the really valuable properties of this locality.

Born in Clay County, Missouri, October 12, 1854, Mr. Munkres is a son of William and Frances Jane (Thorpe) Munkres, both of which families were represented in Howard County, Missouri, as early as Novem- ber, 1819, or two years before the admission of the state to the Union. The Munkres family originated in Cornwall, England, and came to the shores of America, settling at Jamestown, Virginia. The great-grand- father of James Franklin Munkres, William Munkres, was a native of Virginia, served as a soldier throughout the War of the Revolution, and in his declining years came to Clay County, Missouri, dying at the home of one of his sons. The maternal grandparents of Mr. Munkres, John and Elizabeth (Crowley) Thorpe, came from Tennessee to Missouri about the same time as the Munkres, and the family history is practically the same, the family having originated in England and gone thence to Vir- ginia. Elizabeth (Crowley) Thorpe was a sister of Sam Crowley, a sketch of whose life appears elsewhere in this work. The paternal grand- parents of Mr. Munkres were Richard and Malinda (Lynch) Munkres, natives respectively of Virginia and North Carolina and married in the latter state. They came to Clay County, Missouri, as pioneers, Mr. Munkres entering a large tract of land from the Government, and here

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both he and the grandmother passed away. They reared a family of ten children, as follows: James, William, Redmond, John, David, Washing- ton, Melvin, Mary, Louisa and Rachael. William Munkres, the father of James F. Munkres, was born in Tennessee in April, 1813, was six years of age when the family moved to Howard County, Missouri, and subse- quently went to Clay County, where he continued to have interests throughout his life, although in 1858 he moved to Andrew County, where he was engaged in farming until his death, at the home of his son, in 1894. Mrs. Munkres, who was born in Holt County, Missouri, in 1828, died in Clay County in January, 1856, aged twenty-eight years.

James Franklin Munkres, the only child of his parents, was two years of age when his mother died, and for about three years thereafter re- sided with his grandparents. In 1860 he came to Andrew County, Mis- souri, and for about ten years boarded around at different houses, while he was securing his education in the public schools, and William Jewell College, at Liberty, Missouri, which he attended about two years. In 1868 Mr. Munkres and his father began "baching it" on the farm, and thus continued until the marriage of the younger man, when he set up an establishment of his own. Mr. Munkres has continued to be engaged in general farming and stockraising, and has met with good success in each department, raising large crops of grain annually and feeding large herds of stock. Brookdale Farm is a tract of 240 acres, the northwest quarter of section 26, and the south quarter of the southwest quarter of section 23, township 61, range 35, 11/3 miles northwest of Rosendale. Here are located fine, substantial buildings, including a handsome residence, located on an elevation, sixty-eight rods from the highway, with a grove and creek to the south of the residence. Mr. Munkres is a skilled and practical farmer, ready at all times to experi- ment with new discoveries and inventions, and keeping fully abreast of his vocation. He is a democrat in his political views, and has served capably as justice of the peace for one term and as a member of the school board for twenty years.

On October 6, 1878, Mr. Munkres was married to Miss Mary A. Wil- helm, who was born in Andrew County, Missouri, March 19, 1860, a daughter of Ferdinand and Anna (Benner) Wilhelm, the former a native of Stotzen, and the latter of Hirschleheim, both towns in the Province of Hanover, Germany. They were married in St. Charles County, Mis- souri, December 24, 1847, and both died in Andrew County, the father in 1874, when fifty-nine years of age, and the mother June 24, 1909, when eighty-four years of age, at the home of her son-in-law, Mr. Munkres, with whom she had resided for fourteen years. They were the parents of one son and four daughters : J. L., a resident of Benton Township ; Helen C., the wife of Jacob Schunck, of Benton Township; Henrietta D., who. was the wife of Owen Deardoff and is now deceased; Elizabeth, deceased, who was the wife of J. B. Guinn; and Mrs. Munkres. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Munkres: Clara C., born July 11, 1879, a teacher in the public schools of Andrew County, educated at Gallatin (Missouri) College and the business college at Shenandoah, Iowa; Nellie C., born August 30, 1881, who graduated from Grand Business College, received instruction in instrumental music, and is now a teacher of music; and Anna Frances, born February 7, 1892, educated in the Savannah High School, married Frank E. Johnson, in February, 1910, resides at Bolekow, and has one daughter,-Mary Louise. Both Mr. and Mrs. Munkres are well educated, she being a graduate of Savannah High School, and he having been a school teacher in the rural schools of An- drew County, in 1875 and 1876 and the winter of 1877 and 1878.

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LEONIDAS W. CRAIG. A resident of Andrew County for more than forty years, Leonidas W. Craig has during this time been engaged in farming pursuits, and is now the owner of Grass Hills Stock Farm, a magnificent tract of 6531/2 acres, located in section 7, Platte Township. Mr. Craig is a practical and progressive farmer and stockraiser, and has gained his present substantial position by the exercise of native abil- ity and tireless industry, but at the same time, while gaining a personal competence, has contributed to the general welfare and advancement of his community. Mr. Craig is a Kentuckian, born at Ghent, Carroll County, January 13, 1850, a son of Walton and Lorinda (Peak) Craig.

Walton Craig was born at Ghent, Kentucky, in 1803, and as a lad was engaged in agricultural pursuits and continued to be inter- ested in farming throughout his life, but also gave some attention to mercantile pursuits, and for a number of years was the proprietor of a store at Ghent. In 1856 he made a trip to Andrew County, preempting a farm in Platte Township, but soon returned to his native state, and there continued to make his home until his death, in 1886. Mr. Craig was a democrat in his political views, and his religious faith was that of the Baptist Church. He married Miss Lorinda Peak, who was born in Scott County, Kentucky, in 1809, and she died in 1869, having been the mother of seven children, as follows: Evelina Peak, deceased, who was the wife of the late James S. Frank; Bettie, deceased, who was the wife of the late James M. Fisher; Dudley Peak, a resident of Vevay, In- diana; Walton, a resident of Canton, Ohio; Albert G., who is deceased; Benjamin, a resident of Oklahoma; and Leonidas W.

Leonidas W. Craig received his education in the public schools of Ghent, Kentucky, and grew up as a farmer's boy, remaining on the home- stead until 1874, in which year he came to Bolckow, Missouri, and settled on the farm which his father had preempted some eighteen years be- fore. To the original property he has since added greatly, and at this time is the owner of 6531/2 acres, known as Grass Hills Stock Farm, one of the valuable and handsome traets of Andrew County. Mr. Craig is a practical farmer, fully abreast of all modern methods and inventions, and carries on his operations in a progressive manner. Practically all the improvements made on the property have come under his supervision, and the substantial buildings, well-kept fields and prosperous appear- ance of the entire farm indicate that good management and thrift are not lacking. For many years Mr. Craig has been engaged in raising thoroughbred cattle, horses and hogs, for which he secures topnotch prices in the markets. He has a number of business connections aside from his farming operations, and at this time is a director of the Union State Bank of Bolckow, a position which he has held from the time of this institution's organization. Mr. Craig is a democrat in politics, but has strong temper- ance tendencies, and, other things being equal, is liable to give his vote to the candidate who has prohibition views. He is a member of the Baptist Church at Bolckow, in which he is serving as deacon.

Mr. Craig was married December 21, 1876, to Miss Mary Talbott, who was born in Minnesota, November 2, 1857, and who came to Missouri at the age of four years with her parents, R. H. and Elizabeth (Evans) Tal- bott, natives of Pennsylvania, who died at Baxter Springs, Kansas. Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Craig, namely : Walton W., a resident of Bolckow; Frank J., a resident of Clay Township, Andrew County ; Mary Elizabeth, who resides with her parents; Ulie P., who is engaged in cultivating a part of his father's farm; and Jane W. and Lorinda, who live with their parents.

THOMAS SLAWSON. Those economists and philosophers who have given the most thorough study to American problems and whose judg-

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ment deserves the highest consideration have frequently pointed out in recent years that the greatest and primary need of the country is more and better production from the land, rather than in the increase of com- mercial and industrial activities. For many years to come, say these scholars, American soil must produce not merely a sufficiency to supply the needs of our own country, but for the markets abroad. Since the area and resources of the United States are now thoroughly known, are not capable of continued expansion, the solution of the problem seems to rest upon more intensive cultivation, the making of one acre yield more than it has ever done before and the general improvement of the quality of the products, and this is exactly what the foremost agricultur- ists are doing and what the prominent agricultural associations are ad- vocating. The slogan of the Missouri State Corn Growers' Association is . "increase the yield, improve the quality."

In Northwest Missouri one of the best exponents of this new phi- losophy of intensive cultivation and of better quality is Thomas Slawson, of Rea, Andrew County. Mr. Slawson is one of the vice presidents of the Missouri State Corn Growers' Association, and is known over all the corn belt as the prize winner in the production of seed corn. His farm in section 28 of Platte Township is known as the Edgewood Seed Farm, and its products have been exhibited at hundreds of corn shows and agri- cultural fairs, have gained ribbons and prizes by the dozen and hundreds, and samples of the Slawson corn have been admired and inspected by thousands. While it is a most creditable occupation to grow the products of the field to supply the needs of direct consumption, it is a business many degrees higher in importance to supply the grain that can be used by hundreds of other farmers to plant their fields. That is the life work of Thomas Slawson, an Ohio man, who came into Andrew County a little over thirty years ago and has since made himself a factor in the develop- ment and progress of the great corn belt of the Middle West.

Thomas Slawson was born in Delaware County, Ohio, July 8, 1849, a son of Samuel and Ellen (Grant) Slawson. His father was born in New York and his mother in Rhode Island, grew up in Ohio and were married in that state. The mother died in Delaware County in 1900 at the age of sixty-four, and the father spent the last six years of his life with his son Thomas in Andrew County, dying in 1907 at the age of eighty-four. He was a farmer by general vocation, and also for a number of years dealt in lumber and walnut logs. He was also a great lover of horses and stock cattle, and in the early part of his career had bought and shipped stock from the Middle West to Buffalo and New York. There were just two children in the family, Thomas and Alice, the latter the wife of I. M. Spohn of Whitesville.

Thomas Slawson was reared in Ohio, received his education there, and in 1880 came out to Missouri and located at Rosendale. Two years later he established his home on his present farm, which comprises 585 acres, all of it in one body except 120 acres. The land is, as a matter of course, in the highest state of development, and Mr. Slawson has taken great care to conserve and improve the resources of the land and make them in the highest degree efficient for his purposes. While his business as a raiser of seed corn is perhaps of primary importance, he also keeps a large herd of stock, chiefly Shorthorn cattle. He is a man of original mind, and besides his activities in other directions patented a surface cul- tivator for corn, and has applied for a patent on a sugar beet harvester.

Mr. Slawson is one of the directors of the Whitesville Interstate Corn and Poultry Show and was one of the leading factors in starting the first show at Whitesville, and has been actively identified with the organization for the past seven years. It has been as an exhibitor of corn in many

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fairs and shows all over the Middle West that Mr. Slawson's name is most widely known. He has been one of the prominent exhibitors at the National Corn Show in Omaha for several years. In 1909 he won a prize of $100 on a single ear of corn at Des Moines, in a contest open to the world, and against about three thousand rivals for the prize. In 1908 he won first premium on yellow and white corn, and in 1909 his exhibit received the first premiums in the Missouri class at the National Corn Show in Omaha. He won two firsts at Columbia in the Missouri State Corn Show, one on the acre yield and the other on ten ears of white corn. At Dallas, Texas, in 1914, the first prize was given to the Slawson exhibit of oats. He also won two first premiums at the Sedalia State Fair, one each for yellow and white corn, in 1913, including the grand champion prize on corn. Also in 1913 he was given two first premiums and champion prize at the St. Joseph Interstate Fair. He has taken many other champion and sweepstake prizes, and has exhibited at more than two hundred fairs and shows. He has more than three hun- dred ribbons as proof of the honors won by his exhibits. Mr. Slawson sells seed corn all over the corn belt, and in this way disposes of about a thousand bushels annually, all of it raised in his own fields and com- manding prices of from $2.50 to $5 per bushel. One year Mr. Slawson paid out more than three hundred dollars in order to buy back from the different fairs and shows his own exhibits, in order to carry them on to other fairs. During one year his cash premiums aggregated $350. Be- sides the numerous ribbons which have been bestowed on his exhibits, Mr. Slawson also has three trophy cups and two gold medals, the latter being awarded at Omaha, one in 1908 and the other in 1909. In order to hold the cups he had to win three consecutive times, and these cups are now in his permanent possession.

Mr. Slawson is a director of the Savannah Agricultural and Mechanical Society, and has been an assistant superintendent since its organization. He has been an important factor and one of the vice presi- dents for several years of the Missouri Corn Growers' Association. It is a matter of interest to note that some of the products from Mr. Slawson's fields were selected as part of the Missouri corn exhibit for the San Francisco Exposition of 1915. While he has done much along these lines to stimulate larger yields and better farming methods, he does not stop short of what he accomplishes through his own products, but lends his voice and argument wherever possible to better farming methods and especially to better stock. In his home community he has always been a public spirited worker for improvements. For three years he served as road overseer in his district, and the roads were kept in such excellent condition during that time that photographs were taken of them for exhibits in other places. Mr. Slawson has furnished grain from his farm for class work in the Maryville Normal, the Savannah High School and also the agricultural school at the State University.

In 1882 Mr. Slawson married Agnes Heaverlo. She was born in Delaware County, Ohio, July 13, 1853, a daughter of Jacob and Eliza- beth (Eakelbery) Heaverlo. Both her parents were natives of Ohio and in the fall of 1880 came to Andrew County and spent the rest of their lives on a farm near Rosendale. Mr. and Mrs. Slawson are the parents of eight children: Wesley ; Frederick, who died October 1, 1903, just at the entrance to a promising manhood, being then twenty-one years of age; Nellie, wife of Walter Worthington of Gravity, Iowa; Nettie; Bes- sie; Ruby; Harry; and Grover. All the children live at home except Nellie, and all were born in Andrew County.

HON. WILLIAM MARVIN DENSLOW. Representing one of the early families of Grundy County, Mr. Denslow has for a quarter of a century

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been an active newspaper man, a professional photographer and promi- nent in public affairs, having held several responsible positions in local and state government.

William M. Denslow was born in Grundy County, Missouri, August 9, 1858. His father was the late Judge William V. Denslow, who was born in Jennings County, Indiana, February 7, 1823. Grandfather Denslow lost his life from an attack of cholera while crossing the plains in 1849. Judge William V. Denslow moved from Indiana to Benton County, Iowa, settling near Shellsburg, and in 1856 became an early settler in Grundy County, Missouri, and remained in the same neigh- borhood until his death on April 25, 1882. His home was five miles east of Spickard. In August, 1861, he enlisted in the Union army in Com- pany C of the Twenty-third Missouri Infantry. On April 6, 1862, in the great battle of Shiloh he was captured at 4 o'clock on that memor- able Sunday and for six months and thirteen days endured the rigors of confinement in the notorious Libby prison and other Southern prisons. While at Libby he almost starved to death and as a result of that and exposure his constitution was nearly wrecked. After the war he took an active interest in politics, and in 1868 was elected a member of the Grundy County Court, and used his influence to build up the commercial interests of the county in every possible way. At that time Grundy County was without a railroad, and he was one of the leaders in promot- ing and advocating railroad construction, and finally in 1871 had the pleasure of seeing the completion of the Chicago and Southwestern branch of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad through Grundy County and on to the Southwest. Judge Denslow was an active repub- lican in politics. Fraternally he was affiliated with the Masonic order, including the Royal Arch degree, and belonged to the Methodist Episco- pal Church. A man of convictions, he never hesitated to make known his opinion on any public question without waiting to ascertain if such an opinion would be popular. In July, 1855, Judge W. V. Denslow was united in marriage with Miss Martha M. Coyburn, a native of Kentucky. To their union were born three children : Cornelius E., William M. and John A., all of whom are living. Martha M. Denslow, the mother, died at her home in Spickard April 10, 1899.

The early education of William M. Denslow was completed in the Trenton High School, and at the age of seventeen, at the request of the board of education in the Denslow district, where he had grown up and attended country school, he became a teacher in a locality where he knew all the boys and girls, and the fact that he taught a very successful term was in a high degree creditable to his capacity for leadership. He continued to teach there for three terms and elsewhere in the county for several years. Mr. Denslow, however, has for many years given most of his time to newspaper work, to photography, and public affairs. In 1888 he took charge of the Grundy County Gazette at Spickard. That paper had just been established and had less than twenty-five bona-fide subscribers. Under his management the paper grew until its sworn pre- paid subscription list comprised more than one thousand readers. In 1898 he was elected president of the Northwest Missouri Press Associa- tion at St. Joseph.

In the meantime he had been drawn into public affairs. He rep- resented Grundy County in the State Legislature from 1895 to 1899, and served in the thirty-eighth and thirty-ninth and the extraordinary ses- sions of the Legislature during that time. On July 1, 1898, he was ap- pointed United States district deputy revenue collector with headquar- ters at Macon. In 1899 he moved his residence to Macon, and continued in the Government service until the repeal of the Spanish-American war

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A history of northwest Missouri, Volume III, Part 72

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