A history of northwest Missouri, Volume III, Part 77

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

USA > Missouri > A history of northwest Missouri, Volume III > Part 77

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

1808

HISTORY OF NORTHWEST MISSOURI

others. Measured by this standard, one of the exceptionally success- ful men of Holt County is P. W. Zachary, who has spent nearly all his life in Northwest Missouri, and who is now one of the largest landed proprietors in the vicinity of Mound City, and the father of a large and useful family. From the beginning of his independent career over thirty years ago, when he started with a nucleus of eighty acres of land, Mr. Zachary has been steadily advancing to independence, and is now con- sidered one of the most substantial men in his section.

P. W. Zachary was born in Pulaski County, Kentucky, October 6, 1856, a son of Bourne and Nancy (Haskell) Zachary. The parents were married in Kentucky, and there were nine children, five of whom are still living. The father was a farmer, and from Kentucky brought his family to Northwest Missouri, making the greater part of the journey by railway, and then driving overland to a place in Andrew County, where they spent one winter, and the following spring came to Holt County. The father rented a farm in what is now Clay Township, but later moved to Nodaway County, and lived for about five years in town, and ran the mail route while his sons looked after the farm. He then bought a farm adjoining the one occupied by P. W. Zachary, comprising 160 acres of raw land, and he and his boys worked hard to improve and cultivate the soil, and the father continued increasing his land holdings until at his death his estate comprised 320 acres. He had also bought eighty acres and had given it to his son Henry. Bourne Zachary died in September, 1883. He was affiliated with the Masonic Order and in politics a demo- crat, and in his personal characteristics was noted for his good habits, his hard working ability and an absolute rectitude in all his relations with his neighbors. When he came to Northwest Missouri he was practically penniless, and became a fairly wealthy man according to the standards of the time through hard industry. His widow is still living, at the age of eighty-two, and enjoys the best of health. Her home is with her son John. She is a member of the Christian Church.

P. W. Zachary acquired most of his education in Nodaway County. There were a few months each year when work on the farm was slack, and that was the term when school advantages could be enjoyed, but other- wise he was engaged from an early age in the practical responsibilities of farm life. In 1883, after the death of his father, Mr. Zachary married Nancy Browning, whose father Napoleon Browning was one of the pioneers of Holt County. Mr. and Mrs. Zachary began their wedded life on eighty acres of land, an improved farm, and that is the nucleus around which has been accumulated their present large estate. Mr. Zachary has kept adding to his holdings until at the present time they aggregate 560 acres, and all of it is in a condition of improvement and mostly under the plow. Mr. Zachary is one of the large cattle raisers, and raises and feeds great quantities of corn.

Mr. Zachary and wife are the parents of eleven children: Emmett, deceased ; Earl, who married Maud Lundy; Paul; Mabel, deceased ; Helen ; Myron ; Esther ; Ralph B .; Ruth; Mary; and Dorothy. All the children were born on the present farm, and those still living are either at home or located within convenient distances of the old homestead. Mr. Zachary is a member of the Christian Church and in politics a demo- crat.

R. C. GILLIS. This name bespeaks a large family relationship with pioneer settlers in Holt County. The Gillis people through three genera- tions have had their share in pioneer things; agriculture has been their chief vocation, and in all their relations they have appeared as stanch upholders of morality and religion and people of intrinsic neighborliness and usefulness.

1809

HISTORY OF NORTHWEST MISSOURI

Robert C. Gillis, who represents the third generation of residents in Holt County, was born on the farm where he now makes his home Febru- ary 4, 1876. His parents were Wayne and Rutha J. (Minton) Gillis. Wayne Gillis was born in Holt County and he and his wife married here. Grandfather George Gillis was the founder of the family name and for- tune in this section of Northwest Missouri, having come from New York State, and entering land in Holt County as one of the pioneers. His first settlement was about a mile north of Mound City on the Bluff Road. That was at a time when Mound City as a village was not yet in exist- ence, and there were no railroads through the country, and George Gillis and his neighbors had to combat the forces of the wilderness and primi- tive conditions on every hand. This pioneer spent the rest of his days in Holt County. Wayne Gillis was likewise a farmer, and a man pos- sessed of industry and good judgment, and also of a thoroughly moral character which constituted him a man of standing and influence in the community. He was a member of the Christian Church and in politics a democrat.

Wayne Gillis and wife were the parents of nine children, all of whom are living, as follows: Mary Elizabeth, wife of J. C. Wilson; Robert C .; Ruth J., wife of W. L. Brown; Mabel; Maud, wife of Charles Limpp; Myrtle; Refta; Earl and Fred. All the children live in the vicinity of the old homestead, and Robert C. Gillis and his unmarried brothers and sisters have their home together on the old homestead. This is a fine farm of 360 acres, and the children also own forty acres north of Mound City. General farming and stock raising are the principal industries, and the children have maintained the same high standards of conduct and individual ability which characterized their father and grandfather before them. They were all reared as members of the church, and Robert C. Gillis is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and like his father is a democratic voter.

ERNST GELVIN. Among the younger element of the agricultural community of Holt County, one who is winning success in his operations through good management and energetic labors, is Ernst Gelvin, whose well-cultivated property of 235 acres is located in the vicinity of Mait- land. He belongs to a family of agriculturists, was reared on a farm, and by training and inclination is a true son of the soil. While still a young man he has demonstrated the possession of superior abilities in his chosen work, and has already achieved a success that might well be en- vied by men many years his senior.

Mr. Gelvin has the added distinction of being a native of Holt County, having been born at Maitland, Missouri, May 5, 1890, a son of D. A. and Lizzie R. (Hershner) Gelvin. There were nine children in his parents' family, and of these three sons are now deceased. After the death of Mr. Gelvin's mother, his father was married a second time, to Mary Meyers, and to this union there were born two children, of whom one is deceased.

The public schools of his native locality furnished Ernst Gelvin with his educational training, and when he laid aside his studies he began to assist his father with his farm work, remaining under the parental roof until his marriage, in 1911, to Miss Gladys E. Brumbaugh, the daughter of Al Brumbaugh. To this union there were no children. At the time of his marriage, Mr. Gelvin located on his present property, a cultivated tract on which there had been erected a full set of substantial buildings, with the exception of the residence, which was built by Mr. Gelvin. He has continued to be engaged in general farming, and has also met with deserved success in the line of cattle feeding, shipping a · large amount of stock each season. Politically a republican, like his

1810

HISTORY OF NORTHWEST MISSOURI

father, he has been content to discharge the duties of good citizenship, without seeking the doubtful honors of the public arena. He and Mrs. Gelvin are members of the Presbyterian Church, and are always ready to support good and beneficial movements in their community. Both are widely known and have many sincere friends.

ARCH SHARP. Capably representing the agricultural interests of Holt County in Union Township is found Arch Sharp, a progressive farmer and public-spirited citizen and a member of an old and honored family which has lived in Holt County for many years. Mr. Sharp was born in the locality in which he now resides, on his father's homestead place, September 3, 1853, a son of W. A. and Caroline (Elliott) Sharp.

W. A. Sharp was born in Kentucky and was a young man when he came to Missouri seeking his fortunes, the trip being made by boat. He had no capital save that represented by his ambition and determination, but he was willing and steady and straightway secured employment from others. While he was principally engaged in farming at that time, he also did whatever honorable work came to his hands, and he kept a stage station for a number of years, preceding the Civil war. Finally he ac- cumulated enough to begin a career of his own, and at that time entered his first tract of land, which formed the nucleus for his later large hold- ings. He added to his property from time to time, made good invest- ments, and when he died was considered one of the substantial men of his township. He was a man of high principles and a faithful member of the Presbyterian Church, and in his political views was a democrat. His son Asa was probably the first male white child born in Holt County. He married Emeline Taylor, and has two sons,-William and D. B. Another son was born to W. A. and Caroline Sharp, but he died in child- hood.

Arch Sharp received only limited educational advantages in his youth, for the schools at that time in this part of the state left much to be de- sired. However, in later years Mr. Sharp has been a reader and some- what of a student, particularly of human nature, and through observation has gained much information that the ordinary man misses. His entire life has been devoted to the pursuits of the soil, and as a developer of Holt County has cultivated several farms, he now being the owner of 990 acres. On each of these properties he has made modern improvements and erected good buildings, and thus has contributed to the community's interests while advancing his own. In business circles Mr. Sharp bears the name and reputation of being a man of strict integrity and fidelity to engagements.

Mr. Sharp was married to Miss Isabelle Browning, daughter of E. W. Browning, and three children were born to this union: Asa, who married Belle Bowen; W. A., who married Golda Watson; and Minnie, who died at the age of four years. W. A. Sharp has three children, all born in Holt County : Wayne, Wilma and William. Mr. Sharp's first wife died, and he was married a second time, his bride being Cora Etta Davis, daughter of William Davis, and one child has come to them : Dorothy.

Mr. Sharp was reared in the faith of the Presbyterian Church and has continued to believe in its teachings. Like his father, he is a democrat, and has rendered very efficient public service as a member of the school board, on which he has served several times. On a number of occasions he has shown his public spirit in assisting movements for the benefit of his township and its people, and in every particular he may be named as one of his locality's representative men.

HENRY JUDSON HUGHES. The family represented by this well-known real-estate operator, land owner, and cattle breeder of Trenton, came to

1811

HISTORY OF NORTHWEST MISSOURI

Grundy County, Missouri, among the pioneers. During a long and active business career, which began in the capacity of delivery clerk for a local grocery store, Mr. Hughes has created for himself an excellent prosperity and at the same time has made his business work to the bene- fit of the community. In the last twenty years Mr. Hughes has han- dled many thousands of acres in this part of Northwest Missouri, and has done a great deal to exhibit to the rest of the world the resources and advantages of Grundy County soil. Naturally his business relations have brought him into contact with all classes of people, and it is note- worthy that he has never had any trouble, either through his personal relations or in anything that might result in lawsuits. He has been fair and honest and liberal, and his success has been worthily won.

Henry Judson Hughes was born on a farm in Trenton Township of Grundy County, January 30, 1858. He is a lineal descendant from Leander Hughes, who was born in Cumberland County, Virginia, and whose father migrated from Wales to Virginia, about 1700. The next in line was Leander's son Powell Hughes, great-grandfather of the Tren- ton business man. Powell Hughes, who was a soldier in the War of the Revolution, spent all his career in Virginia. Little Berry Hughes, the grandfather, was born in Prince Edward County, Virginia, October 15, 1770, and was reared and married in that vicinity. In 1810 with others he emigrated to Smith County, Tennessee, and this migration was ac- complished with teams and wagons, and several women in the party rode horseback over the mountains to Tennessee. Grandfather Hughes bought land in Mulherrin Creek, seven miles southeast of Carthage, became prosperous and an extensive farmer, and was prominent in public affairs. He was in the State Legislature for nineteen years, was in the State Senate in 1825 and was a candidate for the senate at the time of his death in 1835. He married Mary Walker, who was born June 3, 1780, and was married June 3, 1798. She was the daughter of William and Lucy Walker, natives of Prince Edward County, Virginia. By their marriage they reared nine children.

Gedeliah Hughes, father of Henry J., was born in Smith County, Tennessee, January 30, 1816. His education was acquired before the introduction of the public school system, and largely through private tutors. He afterwards received a college training in Virginia. He was married in Muhlenburg County, Kentucky, May 9, 1839, to Jane Penn Walker, daughter of Thomas A. and Mary (Dillon) Walker. With his bride he returned to Smith County, Tennessee, making the journey on horseback. Subsequently they lived in Muhlenburg County, Ken- tucky, and in 1842 accompanied other pioneers overland to Grundy County, Missouri. It was a party of homeseekers quite typical of the times, and besides the men, women and children, there were wagons and teams, a drove of cattle, and all the household goods and tools which could be carried along. At night they camped by the wayside, and were several weeks in accomplishing the journey. Gedeliah Hughes located six miles from Trenton, and entered Government land in section 12, township 60, range 24, and at once built a log house in which Henry J. Hughes was born. Subsequently he devoted his time to the clearing of the land, the tilling of the soil, and lived in the country until his death in 1861 at the age of forty-five years. His widow survived him many years and kept their children together until each became self-supporting. She died at the venerable age of eighty-nine. Her father was Thomas Walker, who came to Grundy County as a land-looker in 1839, and traded a few slaves for 240 acres two miles from the Trenton courthouse. In 1842 he settled on that land, and lived there until his death in 1856. His widow survived him and died in her ninetieth year. Gedeliah Hughes

1812

HISTORY OF NORTHWEST MISSOURI

and wife reared five children, namely : Susan, now the widow of Jacob Helwig; Thomas, who lives at Kingman, Kansas; James C. of Eldorado, Arkansas; Henry J .; and Lizzie Lea, who died at the age of twenty-one.

Henry J. Hughes was three years old when his father died, and he had only limited school advantages, but made the best of all his oppor- tunities and from the time he was thirteen years of age has been earning his own way. At that time he found a place as delivery clerk with a Trenton grocery store. It was a time long before the modern mercantile delivery system was inaugurated, and he served in the capacity of horse, wagon and driver, carrying most of the goods on his shoulders or in his arms to the customers. Later he sold goods over the counter, and learned all the details of the business and gradually got into trade on his own account. Since 1891 Mr. Hughes has been engaged in real-estate. When he opened his office in that line all property values in this part of Missouri, as well as over the country generally, were at a low ebb. The average price at which farm land was sold in the surrounding coun- try was $20 an acre. The same land now brings $100 an acre. Mr. Hughes has done a great deal to advertise Grundy County and recently issued a pamphlet beautifully illustrated with farm scenes and homes and containing an accurate summary description of the land and the opportunities to be found by the homeseeker in Grundy County. Mr. Hughes does not confine his operations to local real estate, but sells and buys in many states of the Union and also in Canada. On one day he sold a tract of land in the Panhandle of Texas and also in Saskatche- wan, Canada. One farm sold recently through his office brought $62,500, and for one year his total sales aggregated $600,000. To one customer he sold property valued at $107,500, and this indicates how completely he has won the confidence of investors and the public generally through his well-known integrity as a business man. As a representative of eastern capital he has also loaned millions of dollars in this part of the state, and these transactions have been effected without a single fore. closure or the loss of a dollar in principal or interest.

The Hughesdale Stock Farm is his special pride. Three hundred and twenty acres of highly productive and well improved land, supplied with excellent buildings and farming equipment, afford a setting for the raising of high grade live stock. He specializes in his full-blooded regis- tered shorthorn cattle and Duroc Jersey hogs. At the World's Fair in St. Louis in 1904 Mr. Hughes exhibited "Rowena II," the cow that was awarded championship as the best dual purpose cow. Rowena is still a cherished animal in the Hughes herd, and is now fifteen years old. The Hughes shorthorn herd comprises sixty head, and a number of them are descendants of Rowena.

Mr. Hughes was married December 30, 1879, to Alice Austin, daugh- ter of James and Susan (Collier) Austin. To their marriage have been born two sons and one daughter: Ray A. is now associated with his father in business; Lela A. is the wife of E. D. Winslow, chief clerk to the general manager of the Rock Island Railway at Des Moines; James Blaine, the second son, died when thirteen years old. Mr. and Mrs. Hughes occupy a pleasant home at 314 West Fourteenth Street in Tren- ton. They are members of the First Baptist Church, and active in social and community affairs. Mr. Hughes cast his first vote for Garfield, and is now of the Roosevelt wing in politics. For six years he served as regent of the State Normal School at Marysville, his appointment having been given by Governor Folk. He affiliates with Trenton Lodge No. 52, T. O. O. F .; with Lodge No. 111, A. F. & A. M .; and with Godfrey De Bouillon Commandery No. 24, of the Knights Templars.

FENNEL

My. Steph

1813

HISTORY OF NORTHWEST MISSOURI

MAJ. WILLIAM DALE STEPP, a well-known attorney-at-law of Trenton, Grundy County, was born in that city September 12, 1873, a son of Hon. Paris C. D. Stepp. He comes of Revolutionary stock, his great grand- father, James Stepp, having served in the Revolutionary war under Gen. Francis Marion. James Stepp subsequently removed from North Caro- lina to Kentucky, settling on the Cumberland River in pioneer days. Among his children were three sons, Golson, Reuben and Joshua, the lat- ter being the Major's grandfather.

Joshua Stepp was born October 19, 1800, in North Carolina and as a boy accompanied his parents to Kentucky. There, in 1827, he was united in marriage with Rebecca Owen, who was born in the vicinity of Sweet Briar Springs, Virginia, and as a small child was taken by her parents to Kentucky. Soon after his marriage he migrated with his bride to Indiana, becoming an early settler of Monroe County, where he bought land, and was engaged in farming until 1853. In the spring of that year, again seized with the wanderlust, he started for Oregon, an almost unknown country at that time. There were then no railways west of Bloomington, Indiana, and the removal was of necessity made with ox teams. He left Indiana with his entire family, consisting of him- self, wife, and fifteen children, and took with him all of his worldly goods. He crossed the Mississippi River at Alton, the Missouri at Lexington, and while camping on Missouri ground was induced by the few settlers already established in that vicinity to locate there. Listening to their persua- sions, he bought, in Grundy County, a tract of land on Honey Creek, known as the Tadlock Farm, and also other tracts amounting in all to 320 acres, the greater part of which was in its primitive wildness. With the assistance of his children he cleared the larger portion of his land, erected a substantial set of buildings, and was there a resident until his death, in 1884. His wife also spent her last years on the homestead, dying in 1885. She had a brother, Greenberry Owen, who moved from his native state, Indiana, to Illinois, and a sister, Mrs. Blanche Ayers, who settled in Missouri, and another sister, Mrs. Irene Murphy, who be- came a resident of Ohio. The children reared by Joshua and Rebecca (Owen) Stepp were as follows: Jackson, Greenberry O., William L., Leonard, Thomas O., Paris C. D., George D., Louisa, Lourena, Minerva J., Arthusa, Sarah J., Sumilda, Perilda and Elvira.

Paris C. D. Stepp was a lad of eight years when he came with the fam- ily to Grundy County, Missouri. The country had then been settled twenty years, but there were neither railroads nor navigable streams, and but little of the land was improved, the lines of neighborhood being far extended. In the winter of 1853-54 he attended a school taught by one of his older sisters in a log cabin that was heated by a fireplace, while the rude slab seats had neither backs nor desks in front. For several years when not in school he assisted in clearing the land and tilling the soil. As soon as old enough, in 1864, he enlisted in the Tenth Kansas Regiment, and did guard duty at St. Louis for awhile, after which he was honorably discharged. On July 20, 1864, Paris C. D. Stepp enlisted in Company E, Twelfth Missouri Cavalry, and going South was soon in the thickest of the fight. On August 10, 1864, he was in battle on the Chattahoochie River, and later was with Smith's Division in the Oxford campaign. On September 30, 1864, he started with his command in pursuit of General Forrest's troops, but at Clifton, Tennessee, his command was ordered to Paducah to meet General Hood's troops, which were en route to Nash- ville, and from September 8th until September 19th was continuously en- gaged with the enemy. On the latter date, being far outnumbered by the enemy, he was forced, with his comrades, to retreat to Columbia. From that time he was with his command, and in one of the battles before

1814

HISTORY OF NORTHWEST MISSOURI

Nashville, Paris C. D. Stepp received his only wound while in service, a minnie ball piercing his arm. He was in a stooping posture when hit, and after piercing his arm the ball passed through seventeen letters that he had in his pocket, and then landed in his cap pouch without doing other harm than inflicting the flesh wound on Mr. Stepp's arm.

After the Battle of Nashville, Mr. Stepp was with his command in Alabama and Mississippi until the spring of 1866 when he went with his command to the Northwest to assist in looking after the Indians, who were then on the war path, going by way of Fort Leavenworth to Omaha, thence to the Powder River country, where his command had several en- gagements with the Indians. He spent the winter with his command at Forts Laramie and Sedgwick, guarding the United States overland mail, and in the spring of 1866 was honorably discharged.

Returning to Trenton, Paris C. D. Stepp farmed, taught school and attended school the next three years. In 1869 he entered the Indiana State University, at Bloomington, Indiana, where he remained a year. He then studied law in the office of Colonel Shanklin, and in 1871 was admitted to the bar before Circuit Court Judge R. A. DeBolt. The en- suing year he taught in the Trenton High School, and the following four years served as county surveyor. In 1876, he was elected as a representa- tive to the State Legislature, and in 1878 was elected probate judge, serving so acceptably, that in 1884, and again in 1888, he was honored with a re-election to the same office, which he filled for twelve years. He was a member of Trenton School Board from 1880 until 1890. In 1892 he was elected judge of the Third Judicial Circuit of Missouri and re- elected to same office in 1898, serving twelve years, his last term expiring January 1, 1904. In the spring of 1907, he removed to Riverton, Wyo- ming, where he has since been actively and successfuly engaged in the practice of law.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

A history of northwest Missouri, Volume III, Part 77

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