USA > Missouri > Jackson County > Kansas City > A memorial and biographical record of Kansas City and Jackson County Mo. > Part 51
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During the civil war Mr. Adams served as a member of company G, Colonel Reeves' regiment, the company being commanded by Captain Kemper and attached to Gen- eral Sterling Price's division. He took part in the battle of Pea Ridge, and shortly after was obliged to leave the army on ac- count of ill health. He then returned to Jackson county and soon afterward went to
Clay county, where he was engaged in teaching school for a year. At the close of the war he returned to Jackson county and engaged in agricultural pursuits. He also carried on general merchandising for eight years at Pink Hill, and on the expiration of that period located in Fort Osage township, where he has since made his home. He now owns 150 acres of rich land, all under a high state of cultivation, and the farm is one of the valuable properties of the com- munity. For a time he also followed teach- ing, and for twelve years was numbered among the successful educators of Jackson county.
His fellow citizens, appreciating his worth and ability, have frequently called upon Mr. Adams to serve in positions of public trust. In 1859 he was elected jus- tice of the peace and acceptably served in that office. He was appointed notary public under Governor B. G. Brown, and has been reappointed by each succeeding governor up to the present time. In November, 1884, he was elected to the state legislature on the democratic ticket and served one term, during which time he was chairman of the internal improvements committee, and a member of the ways and means committee. During President Cleveland's first adminis- tration he was appointed United States storekeeper in charge of the Kansas City distillery, and held that position four years. . In the fall of 1894 he was again elected jus- tice of the peace, and is now discharging the duties of that office with a promptness and fidelity that wins him high commenda- tion. In the fall of 1878, John W. Booth was elected constable of Call township, and Judge Adams became one of his bondsmen. After about six months' serving in this of- fice Mr. Booth resigned, and our subject
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was appointed by the county clerk to fill his unexpired term, which he did. At the expiration of this term, he was placed in nomination for the same office, but was de- feated in the election, with the rest of the democratic party, though he ran ahead of his ticket by many votes. He has always taken an active interest in political affairs and is a stanch champion of democratic principles.
The Methodist Episcopal church, south, at Pink Hill, numbers him among its faith- ful and active members. To all matters of public improvement and to every enter- prise calculated to benefit the community he gives a hearty support, and the cause of cducation finds in him a stalwart champion. He is a Royal Arch Mason and has served as worshpful master of Buckner lodge, No. 501, F. & A. M .; and is a charter member of Buckner Hill lodge, I. O. O. F. He is a man of broad mind and general culture and for many years has been a valued cor- respondent of the Kansas City Times and the Independence Sentinel and Progress, under the name of Mr. Comet. The reason of his assuming the name was because he was born on the 13th of December, 1833, the night the "stars fell."
H. M'NEIL, one of the most prominent and energetic young members of the bar of Kansas City, who has gained a reputation that many an older practitioner might well envy, was born in Bates county, Missouri, Febru- ary 29, 1860, and is a son of James and Jane C. (Wilson) McNeil, the former a native of New Hampshire, while the mother was born in Pennsylvania, and is of Scotch-Irish de- scent. By occupation James McNeil was a
farmer, and in the latter part of the '50s he emigrated westward to Missouri, taking up his residence in Bates county. Here he en- gaged for a time in railroad contracting. He built a part of the Missouri Pacific Rail- road, and while living in Pennsylvania built a portion of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad. Purchasing land in Bates county, he later turned his attention to farming, which he has since followed. The family numbers eight children, all yet living.
The subject of this review spent his boy- hood days on the home farm and attended the district schools. At the age of sixteen, how- ever, he entered the Keystone Academy, of Factoryville, Pennsylvania, and was gradu- ated at that institution in 1880, carrying off the honors of the class and delivering the valedictory address. He then taught school for one year, and in 1881 entered the liter- ary department of the University of Michi- gan, in which he was graduated in 1885, while the following year he completed the law course, thus finishing six years' study in five years. While in college he acted as editor of the University Chronicle, and his social, genial nature made him a favorite with his classmates, while his good scholarship won him " golden opinions " from the professors. About the time he left school he was ad- mitted to the Michigan bar, and in the fall of 1886 was admitted to practice in the courts of Missouri. He immediately located in Kansas City, where he has since engaged in the prosecution of his profession and has built up a nice practice. For some time he was in the office of Judge Gibson. He is now alone and has a good clientage, while his business is steadily increasing. There can be no doubt that he has made a wise choice in his profession, for he possesses a
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keen, analytical mind, good oratorical powers, is quick to note and make use of the strong points of a case, and as the op- ponent of some of the experienced and best known members of the bar he has won suc- cess. He compiled and revised The Mine and Quarry, New Bureau Digest of Missouri, and is the esteemed secretary of the Kansas City Bar Association. One of the most im- portant cases with which he has been asso- ciated was that of the state versus Snyder, which was three times tried in the criminal court, once in the circuit court, once in the Kansas City court of appeals and three hear- ings in the supreme court. It was months before it was brought to a close, but Mr. McNeil nevertheless won his suit.
Socially, Mr. McNeil is connected with the Knights of Pythias fraternity, has rep- resented his lodge in the Grand Lodge on three different occasions, and served on sev- eral important committees. In politics he is a stalwart democrat and an active worker in the ranks of his party, doing all in his power to promote its interests and insure its success. He is a frequent attendant on county and state conventions and earnestly labors for the political advancement of his friends. In manner, Mr. Neil is a very companionable gentleman, is an enthusiast on the subject of athletic sports and is pop- ular with all classes. He is broad-minded, thoroughly imbued with the spirit of prog- ress and of a genial disposition, and his friends are many.
0 B. SENTER. - In this gentleman is found a worthy representative of the farmers of Jackson county, Missouri, his location being on section 21 of Washington township. To
the Old Dominion Mr. Senter fondly looks back as the place of his birth and the home of his ancestors.
William N. Senter, his father, was a native of Washington county, Virginia, born in 1818, son of Rev. Drury and Polly (Mc- Clure) Senter, residents of the same coun- ty. Rev. Drury Senter was a Baptist min- ister and a man who accomplished a large amount of good in his day. Four of his sons followed in his footsteps as ministers of the gospel. The mother of our subject was before her marriage Miss Nancy Dough- erty. She was a native of Smith county, Virginia, born in 1820, daughter of Daniel and Elizabeth (Dougherty) Dougherty, na- tives of New York city, who removed from there to Virginia and later to North Car- olina. Her father was highly educated and was a man of prominence and influence in his day. It was in North Carolina that William N. Senter and Miss Nancy Dough- erty were married. They made their home in Grayson county, Virginia, until 1859, and that year moved to North Carolina, where he carried on agricultural pursuits and where he died in 1883. She survives him and re- sides there on the old home place with her daughter. She is a member of the Primi- tive Baptist church, as also was her honored husband. In their family were twelve chil- dren, three of whom died under six years of age, and seven are still living, viz .: D. B., the subject of this sketch; Drury E .; Re- becca J. Church; Mary C. Johnson, of Ken- tucky; Cosby Clementine Dixon, of North Carolina; Eli M., West Virginia; and Mrs. Ada L. Chandler. Three of the sons, - Andrew B., D. B., and Drury E.,-were in the same Confederate regiment during the civil war, and the first named died while in the service.
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D. B. Senter was born in Grayson county, Virginia, May 19, 1842, and on a farm in that county spent the first seventeen years of his life. From seventeen to twenty he lived in North Carolina. Then, August 9, 1862, he enlisted as a private in company I, fifty-first Virginia infantry, Confederate States of America, and as such took part in the following named battles: New Market, Piedmont, followed General Hooker's army from Lynchburg to Salem, Monacacy Bridge, Frederick City, Maryland, Mary- land Heights and others. In the fall of 1864 he returned home on a furlough and was married, and after an absence of four- teen days rejoined the army. It was on the 18th of October that he reached his com- mand, and on the morning following he went into battle at Cedar Creek, this engagement being followed by numerous skirmishes. March 2, 1865, at the battle of Waynes- boro, Virginia, he was captured by Federal troops and taken prisoner to Fort Delaware, where he was held until the close of the war and kept on short rations. June 20, 1865, he was released and ten days later reached home. At the battle of New Market, Sun- day, May 15, 1864, Mr. Senter went into the conflict with an ankle that had been stiff for three years. A minie ball struck that instep, followed outside the skin around to the heel and came out through the stocking and shoe. When that bruise got well, for it was only a slight bruise, his ankle was limbered, and has been well ever since! He thus had the remarkable record of a man who entered the army a cripple and came cut whole through being wounded!
Mr. Senter was married September 25, 1864, to Matilda Senter, a native of North Carolina, born March 25, 1847, daughter of Rev. Nathaniel N. and Margaret (McMillan)
Senter, he a native of Virginia and she of North Carolina. Her maternal grandpar- ents, Andrew and Jane (Fields) McMillan, were Scotch people who had emigrated to this country and settled in North Carolina. Her parents married in North Carolina and in that state made their home until 1854, when they moved to Virginia. In 1867 they came west to Kansas, and in Johnson county, Kansas, her mother died in 1869. Subse- quently her father returned east and mar- ried a Mrs. Koonz, a widow, who survives him, his death having occurred in July, 1877. By his second marriage he had no children. The children of his first wife were ten in number, seven of whom attained adult age, and of that number three survive: Eveline Young, of Kansas; Mrs. Senter; and John R., Clearwater, Kansas. One son, Andrew, was a soldier in the Confed- erate army, under General Shelby, and died while in the service. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Senter are five in number and as follows: Luella, Nannie V., Andrew F., Dora Alice, and Daniel B. Lewella is the wife of J. E. Cordell, Cass county, Missouri, and has a family of five children, their names being Daniel Grover, Mamie, Carrie, James Madison and Jay.
After his return home from the war, Mr. Senter continued his residence in North Carolina until May, 1867, when he came to Missouri and settled in the same locality in which he now lives. Two years later he moved to Kansas and for three years made his home in Johnson county; in 1872 he returned to North Carolina, and in May, 1877, he again came to Missouri and since then has made this state his home, his resi- dence upon his present farm dating from November, 1877. Here he owns 200 acres, all improved land, and gives his attention to
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general farming and dairying, in which he has been fairly successful.
Mr. and Mrs. Senter are members of the Missionary Baptist church at Grand View. Politically, he has always been a democrat. In local affairs, however, he does not ad- here strictly to party lines, but usually casts his vote for the best man. He has served three terms as president of the school board.
EWTON VAUGHN, a resident of Washington township, Jackson county, Missouri, was born and reared in this township, and is a gentleman whose life has been a somewhat eventful one, his history being well worthy of consideration on these pages.
The Vaughns have long been residents of this country, and their genealogy is traced back to the early settlers of the Old Do- minion. Robert Toms Vaughn, the grand- father of our subject, was born in Virginia, was one of the pioneers of Kentucky, and was one of the brave soldiers who fought in the war of 1812. His son Reuben, the father of Newton, was born in Green county, Kentucky, in the year 1804, and in his na- tive state was married to Miss Rebecca Harper, likewise a Kentuckian by birth. Her father, Joshua Harper, had, like the elder Mr. Vaughn, moved from Virginia to Kentucky at an early day, and had become a pioneer of that frontier state. Some time after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Reuben Vaughn went to Illinois, where they lived for two years, and thence they came to Mis- souri, the date of their removal to this state being either 1832 or 1835. Selecting a lo- cation on section 33 of Washington town- ship, Jackson county, Mr. Vaughn entered some land from the government and pur-
chased some adjoining it, and on this place he continued to reside until 1863, when his house was burned down. This occasioned his removal to Illinois, where he remained until 1866, when he returned, and in this county he passed the residue of his life and died. His first wife died in 1846, leaving him with a family of five children, namely: Robert Thomas, a resident of Nebraska; Frances Lindsay, Johnson county, Kansas; Mary Ann Midgett, Carroll county, Missouri; William, Cass county, Missouri; and New- ton, whose name we are pleased to place at the head of this sketch. For his second wife the father married Mrs. Annie Lynch, ncc Reece, who survives him. Of the three children born of their union, only one is living,-John. Reuben Vaughn died June 9, 1876, after an active and useful life, which covered more than threescore and ten years. He was a member of the Cum- berland Presbyterian church.
Newton Vaughn was born October 29, 1845, and was reared on his father's farm, schooling advantages here at that period be- ing of a meager sort. Altogether he at- tended school no more than one year; but by travel, contact with the world, and close observation he has picked up a store of use- ful information, and he keeps himself well posted on the general topics of the day. Before the days of railroads here freighting was both an extensive and profitable busi- ness and had its fascinations for many a young man. Young Vaughn was attracted to it, and early in life made a trip across the plains to Fort Union, New Mexico, as a teamster in a freight train, of which one Dick Yeager was master. In the fall of 1861 he returned to Missouri, and in June of the following year joined Colonel Upton Hayes' regiment. After the fight at Lone
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Jack, in which he participated, he went south to Arkansas with the regiment, and there left his cominand and returned home. Preferring freighting to fighting, he soon after crossed the plains again, driving team to Fort Sumner, New Mexico. The follow- ing winter he had charge of a band of cattle in New Mexico. In the spring he started East, but joined another outfit which was on its way from western Kansas to Santa Fe, and returned with it to that place .. That summer we find him employed in herding cattle for a Mr. Kitchen, then went to Colo- rado and there worked on a ranch two years. The next two years he farmed near Pueblo. He came home in the fall of 1867. At this time he had an opportunity to make a freighting trip to Montana, and was ab- sent on this trip until the fall of the follow- ing year, when we again find him in Mis- souri. Then he farmed one year in Cass county, and the next year with his uncle, Josiah Vaughn.
His next venture was to lease for five years a tract of timber land in the Big Blue bottoms. At the end of four years he bought the tract and rented it, himself tired of the humdrum life of clearing new ground, and went out to western Nebraska, where he was a cowboy two years. Returning to Missouri, he sold his land. After his mar- riage, which event took place in 1882, he rented a farm east of Belton, Missouri, on which he made his home one year. The next two summers he spent on a farm three miles north of Belton. After this he bought a place near Martin City, lived there four years and then sold out, and his next and last move was to his present farm on section 21 of Washington township. Here he has resided for seven years. He has 151.58 acres, 100 of which are under culti-
vation, the farm being utilized for both farm- ing and stock-raising. His residence and many of the improvements upon his land have been placed here by the present owner.
Mr. Vaughn was married in 1882 to Miss Caroline Koontz, a sister of Mrs. Henry Knoche and a native of Howard county, Missouri, the date of her birth being No- vember, 1866. They have seven children, three sons and four daughters : Amelia, Eveline, Henry, Minnie, Sylvester, May and Newton.
Mr. and Mrs. Vaughn are members of the Methodist church, south, being identi- fied with the organization at Martin City. Politically he is a democrat and fraternally a Mason, his membership in the F. & A. M. being at Belton. Personally, Mr. Vaughn is a inan of many sterling qualities, promi- nent among which are his strict integrity, his industry and his frank and genial man- ner. Those who know him best esteem him most.
a ILLIAM M. RANDALL, a con- tractor and brick manufacturer of Independence, Missouri, pos- sesses the qualifications necessary for success, being an enterprising and indus- trious man. He was born in Jefferson county, West Virginia, October 3, 1827, and is a son of George Randall, who was also a native of that state. In 1858 the family came to Jackson county, Missouri, but after a few years the father removed to Leavenworth, Kansas, where he died about 1875. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Mary Wynkoop, died in Jefferson county, West Virginia. They had five children, -- two sons and three daughters.
Clarence Macher
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Our subject, who is the eldest, was reared in the county of his nativity, and re- mained there until 1857, when he removed to Independence and has since made his home in this place, with the exception of three years spent in Quincy, Illinois. He followed brickmaking while in West Vir- ginia, and on coming to Missouri engaged in the manufacture of brick, taking contracts to furnish supplies when needed. He manu- factured a good quality of brick, conducted his interests on sound business principles, and has the confidence and therefore the patronage of others. He has succeeded in his undertakings, and to-day, in addition to his brick-yard, owns a valuable farm of sixty-eight acres near Independence.
Mr. Randall was married in Frederick county, West Virginia, to Miss Rebecca E., daughter of the late George Randall, who also came to Independence, Missouri, in 1857, and died in this city about 1870. To our subject and his wife were born seven children, four of whom are now living, namely: George W., a brick manufacturer and contractor, of Springfield, Missouri; William R., Joseph J. and Adran J. Those deceased are John, Mollie and Lee. The parents are both members of the southern Methodist church, and in his social affilia- tions Mr. Randall is a Mason, holding his membership in McDonald lodge, No. 324, F. & A. M .; the Royal Arch chapter, and Palestine commandery, No. 17, K. T. He has twice been a member of the city council, and is a progressive, public-spirited citizen who lends a hearty support to all interests calculated to benefit the community. For almost forty years he has been a resident of Independence, has witnessed most of its growth and has aided materially in its ad- vancement.
LARENCE D. USSHER, M. D., is devoting his life to the two pro- fessions which the world acknowl- edges as of the greatest importance to humanity, -the ministry and the medical profession. His labors for the soul are add- ed to those for the body,-God's holy tein- ple,-and all that can enrich and make bet- ter and nobler the lives of his fellow men has his earnest, active commendation and co-operation. Though a young man the in- fluence of his individuality is strongly felt. Recognizing the brotherhood of inankind, his labors are in the interests of those who are in need of human help and sympathy and in many a household his name is grate- fully spoken.
Dr. Ussher was born in Aurora, Illinois, September 5, 1870, and is a son of the Right Reverend Brandram Boileau Ussher and Elizabeth Leonora (Thompson) Ussher. In both ancestral lines he has descended from prominent families of Great Britain, connected with the nobility of that empire. His father was born in the city of Dublin, Ireland, August 6, 1845, and was the young- est son of Captain Richard Beverly Ussher, who belonged to the Queen's army. The Captain descended from Richard Neville, the great Earl of Warwick, one of whose descendants took the name of the office which he held, -Usher of the Black Rod, --- and subsequently removed to Ireland. To distinguish the family name from the office the second letter s was added. The great- grandfather of Captain Ussher was the rector of the parish of Clontarf, near Dub- lin, which was held by the family from fa- ther to son for over one hundred and fifty years, the Rev. John Ussher, afterward as- tronomer royal for Ireland, being the last to hold the incumbency. His second son was
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John Ussher, of Woodpark, who had four sons, the youngest being Captain Richard Beverly Ussher. The family name is con- spicuous on the pages of English history in connection with the church and educa- tional interests. Among the honored repre- sentatives of the family were Archbishop Henry Ussher, one of the founders of Trin- ity College, Dublin; James Ussher, primate of Ireland; Henry Ussher, D. D., professor of astronomy in Trinity College, Dublin; Rev. W. Neville Ussher, canon of the ca- thedral in Edinburg; Robert Ussher, bishop of Kildare; and Brandram B. Ussher, bishop of the Reformed Episcopal church and rec- tor of Christ church in Peoria, Illinois.
Through his paternal grandmother, Dr. Ussher has an equally distinguished ancestry, the Boileau family being one of the few that can trace their genealogy back without a break for a period of over six hundred years to Etienne Boileau, who was born in the thirteenth century and was appointed by Louis IX, in the year 1255, grand provost of Paris, then the highest office in the state. . The family was raised to the nobility by Charles V. The tenth baron, at the time of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, was arrested as a protestant and after an im- prisonment of ten and one half years in Montpelier died a martyr to his faith. His son Charles, from whom Mrs. Ussher has descended, renounced his rights and titles to the honors and estates of the family, which thereby fell into the hands of a younger brother and are still in possession of his de- scendants.
On the maternal side Dr. Ussher has descended from an illustrious and honored family. His grandmother, Elizabeth Mar- garet D'Arcy, was the eldest daughter of Rev. Joshua D'Arcy and belonged to a
family that was established in Ireland in the fourteenth century. History says: Sir John D'Arcy, Lord Justice of Ireland, married the Countess Johanna de Burgh, daughter of the Red Earl of Ulster, and sister to El- len, wife of Robert Bruce, King of Scotland. They had a son, William, from whom the present family of D'Arcy is descended. In the affairs of state inembers of the family have figured prominently, furnishing three governors of Ireland, a vice-treasurer and others who have been prominent factors in the public life of Great Britain. The great- grandfather of Mrs. Ussher was George D'Arcy, who entertained King William, of Orange, the night before the battle of Boyne, and King James the night after. When re- monstrated with for having entertained the latter, he showed his ideas of hospitality by words which have since become famous:
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