USA > Missouri > Jackson County > Kansas City > A memorial and biographical record of Kansas City and Jackson County Mo. > Part 53
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There is a lesson in Mr. O'Grady's ca- reer for every American boy, be he native or foreign born. Follow the young Irish- man from his landing, an emigrant at twen- ty years of age, to the little border town of Osage Mission, to his present position of affluence and influence, and you have an ob- ject lesson, plain and practical. It is not luck, nor influence or inherited wealth that make such men, but work, persistence and pluck. He has never sought office of any description, his aim in life having been to succeed in his chosen profession.
R. WALTER T. MEFFORD, a regular practitioner of medicine at Kansas City, Missouri, was born in Scott county, Kentucky, January 14, 1844. His parents, David F. and Martha (Samuels) Mefford, were both natives of Kentucky. His father was born
January 20, 1801, in the same county as himself, and his mother is a native of Mer- cer county, that state. Before the war his father was the owner of 4,000 acres of land and a distillery, both of which were carried on by his slaves. When the civil war broke out he entered the Confederate service and was captured at Shiloh and sent to Camp Chase There he contracted the disease from which he died in 1863. Through the efforts of our subject, he was liberated and taken to his home in Kentucky. Nine chil- dren survived him, of whom seven are still living, namely: Mrs. Nancy Smith; Mrs. Martha Mefford and Mrs. Cordelia Munson, of Shelby county, Indiana; John T. Mefford, of Georgetown, Ohio; Leonidas Mefford, a capitalist of Chicago, Illinois; Rev. James D. Mefford, a Baptist minister at Newport, Kentucky; and our subject, Dr. Walter T. Mefford.
Dr. Mefford's great-grandmother was born in Heidelberg, Germany, and came to America in 1761, locating at Jamestown, Virginia. He held the rank of captain in the Revolutionary war. Our subject's grandfather, Thomas Mefford, was born in Virginia but removed to Kentucky in an early day. He was a salt manufacturer and also figured in the Revolutionary war. He died in 1801. Mrs. Thomas Mefford, whose maiden name was Taylor, was a cousin of General Zachary Taylor. Our sub- ject's maternal great-grandfather, Thomas Samuels, was born in Hanover, Germany, in 1725. After landing in America he settled at Culpeper Court House, in Vir- ginia. He held the rank of colonel in the Revolutionary war. His son, John Samuels, grandfather of our subject, was born in Vir- ginia, in 1751, followed the trade of ship carpenter and died in 1851, at the advanced
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AND JACKSON COUNTY, MISSOURI.
age of 100 years. His wife was a near rela- tive of General Wm. H. Harrison.
Our subject was raised at Georgetown,. Kentucky, where he was educated, at the Baptist College in that city. He read med- icine with Doctors Joseph E. Emerson and John Brassell, of Scott county, Kentucky. He subsequently attended lectures at Charleston University, located at Charleston, Illinois, and in 1859 was graduated at Transylvania University, at Lexington, Ken- tucky. In 1861 he enlisted in company F, twentieth Kentucky regiment, and was the only one of the family that fought in the union army. He was wounded at Shiloh, but served three years and was mustered out in 1864.
With the close of the war, Dr. Mefford removed to Rushville, Indiana, where he practiced medicine until 1872. Feeling the need of more knowledge in his professional work he took a course of lectures at Belle- vue Hospital. In 1871 he was graduated at the Cincinnati School of Medicine and Surgery, and in 1888 received the degree of M. D. from the Kentucky Medical College, and the degree of Ph. G. from the Louis- ville School of Pharmacy. He is also a graduate of the Kansas City College of Dental Surgery, receiving his diploma in 1894. In 1884 he attended a course of lectures at Heidelberg University. Rich in knowledge and experience, skilled in medi- cine and surgery, gentle, refined and affable, it is no wonder that his services are in great demand or that he should be considered one of the best known and most popular physi- cians in Kansas City.
Dr. Mefford was married in 1859 to Miss Elizabeth Brockman, of Scott county, Ken- tucky, by whom he had three children: Martha, U. S. Grant and Sigourney B.
Mefford. Eighteen years after the death of his first wife, which occurred in 1871, he was again married, this time to Mrs. Eleanor Kaneer, of Kansas City, Missouri. The Doctor and Mrs. Mefford occupy a hand- some residence in Kansas City, where a host of friends gather to enjoy their hospi- tality and charming companionship.
J OHN H. HARRIS, who carries on agricultural pursuits in Van Buren township, was born in Blue town- ship, Jackson county, July 21, 1832. He has therefore been connected with the history of this locality since its early pioneer days, has been a witness of its growth and upbuilding, and has done much for its ad- vancement.
He was reared on the farm and received only about three months' schooling. At the age of twenty he started out in life for him- self, having previously given his father the benefit of his services. He worked as a farm hand for seven dollars per month un- til he had saved fifty dollars, which he then invested in forty acres of unimproved land. This he fenced, broke and farmed, continu- ing its cultivation until 1863. In the mean- time he had extended the boundaries of his place by the purchase of an additional forty acres of land from his mother. He made enough off his eighty acres to enter 240 acres under the graduation act at twenty- five cents per acre. Thus slowly but steadi- ly he was pressing forward to the goal of prosperity, overcoming all obstacles by his resolute purpose.
In the spring of 1863 Mr. Harris left for Colorado with a wagon train and secured a stage stand at Eagle Nest Station, on the Platte river, eighty miles below Denver, to
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A MEMORIAL RECORD OF KANSAS CITY
take care of the stage horses for Ben Holli- day. He also put up a stable for himself in order to care for travelers' horses, and in addition he hunted extensively and made considerable money in this way. He hired a good hand to take care of his establishment, and with a common mowing scythe harvest- ed and put up two hundred tons of hay. He also cut one hundred cords of wood, and in order to do this he had to wade across the Platte river everyday until it became so cold that he could cross on the ice. He be- gan cutting his hay in July and finished stacking it at Christmas. For this he re- ceived sixteen dollars per ton, and for his wood six dollars per cord. He usually cut about three cords of wood per day. His wife-for he had been married some years previously-also added to the income, by washing clothes for the stage and cattle men, receiving about five dollars per week for this service. She also did their mending and baked bread and roasted coffee for travelers, thus earning about thirty dollars per month.
In the fall of 1864, when the Sioux and Cheyenne Indians made their celebrated raid through that western district, Mr. Har- ris went to Camp Sanborn, where the set- tlers organized into a company, of which he was elected captain. They remained in camp for eleven days and the Indians came within twelve miles of them, but were met by Boveigh and his troops, who succeeded in defeating them. In the spring of 1865 Mr. Harris returned to Missouri. He reached Atchison, Kansas, March 24, 1865, with $3,600. He found his farm in Jackson county in a despoiled condition, and there- fore he soon sold it and purchased his pres- ent farm.
riage with Louisa Bridges, a native of Jack- son county and a daughter of James and Annie ( Powell ) Bridges, early settlers of this locality. She died in April, 1859. Of her four children, three are now living, namely: Bettie, wife of Manley Hutchings, of Independence, by whom she has one child; James F., of Prairie township, who married Lizzie Hackler and has three chil- dren; and Rhoda Effie, wife of Duncan D. Shawhan, of Lees Summit, by whom she has six children. Mr. Harris was again married October 18, 1860, his second union being with Louisa J. Powell, daughter of Absalom and Elizabeth ( Rice ) Powell, both natives of Tennessee, whence they came to Missouri in an early day and spent their re- maining years in Blue township, Jackson county. Their family numbered nine chil- dren, seven of whom are living, -Alvis, Mrs. Rebecca Wood, Mrs. Hannah Tyson, Mrs. Rachel Belcher, Hiram R., Mrs. Mar- tha A. Tucker and Mrs. Harris. The last named was born in Blue township, May 6, 1842, and by her marriage became the mother of eight children, six now living. Mattie is the wife of Walter McCloud, of New Mexico. Edna is the wife of J. F. Kennedy, of Van Buren township, and has three children. Mary Alpha is the wife of J. R. Thomas, of New Mexico, and has two children. John Frederick married Mattie Kennedy and lives in Van Buren township. May and Roza are at home.
Mr. Harris located upon his present farm in June, 1865. It was then but partially improved and the house was a cabin of only one room. He has now lived on this place for thirty years and has five hundred and twenty acres in the home farm and one hundred acres in Prairie township, all now
In 1853 Mr. Harris was united in mar- ! improved. He also owns a business block
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at Lees Summit, which was erected at a cost of $5, 500. He paid $7,000 for a cattle ranch in New Mexico, which he has operated for seven years, and there has 1,280 acres under fence. In 1879 he went to Kentucky and invested $1, Soo in shorthorn cattle, which he began to breed on his farm in Jackson county. After continuing this busi- ness for seven years he sold out. He has for some years past been engaged in breed- ing mules. He raised Monarch, 190, who drew first premium in his ring and was the third in sweepstakes at the World's Colum- bian Exposition at Chicago, in 1893. He has taken premiums from every fair or ex- position at which he has exhibited his stock, and now owns fourteen jacks and thirty jennies.
Mr. Harris is a self-made man who entered upon his business career without capital save a resolute purpose and indefa- tigable industry. He has therefore worked his way steadily upward, and the success which crowns earnest and persistent labor has come to him. He is a member of the Protective Association, of which he has served as president. He has also been school director, and the cause of education finds in him a warm friend. In politics he is a democrat. His wife is a member of the Baptist church.
ILLIAM F. WILKINS, M. D., is a physician and scientist, a gentleman of scholarly attain- ments and eminent ability in his chosen calling.
He was born in Branch county, Michi- gan, in 1848, and is a son of Dr. John M. and Mary (Simmons) Wilkins, also natives of the same state. His paternal grand-
father, John Wilkins, was born in Massa- chusetts, and was of English descent, tracing his ancestry back to Sir Charles Wilkins, of Devonshire, England. John Wilkins was a Seventh Day Baptist minis- ter, and became a pioneer settler of Branch county, Michigan, where he reared a large family of boys. His death occurred at the ripe old age of eighty-seven years. The maternal grandfather of our subject, J. H. Simmons, was a native of Ohio, and was of Scotch-Irish descent.
Dr. John McEntire Wilkins was reared on the wild frontier of the Wolverine state, and engaged in the practice of medicine there for many years. Finally, in 1856, he removed to Fairmont, Illinois, where he followed his chosen calling until 1873, at which time he removed to Ottawa, Kansas, where he practiced for twelve years, being in partnership with his son a part of the time. In 1885 he removed to Fontana, Kansas, where he is still engaged in active business. His wife died when William, their only child, was three years of age. She was a member of the Baptist church, of which the Doctor has been a life-long mem- ber, having served for many years as deacon.
The subject of this sketch was reared in the state of his nativity until seven years old, when he went to Illinois with his father and acquired his education in the district schools of that state, working on a farm in summer and attending school in the winter. Having fitted himself for advanced educa- tional work he attended the high school in Danville, Illinois, and subsequently attended one year as a freshman in Kalamazoo Col- lege, of Kalamazoo, Michigan. He com- pleted his literary education in Miami Uni- versity, of Oxford, Ohio, and was graduated with honors in the class of 1869. Not long
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afterward he took up the study of law, un- der the preceptorship of the firm of Harper & Gregory, of Williamsport, Indiana, also attended one term at the Chicago School of Law, and was admitted to the bar in 1871. He entered in practice at that place for two years, and then went to Memphis, Ten- nessee, where he took charge of the Mem- phis Female College, as professor of mathe- matics and natural sciences, there spending one year, when he was elected principal in the public schools of Little Rock, Arkansas. From that state he holds the highest cer- tificate, valid for life. On the expiration of the following year he became president of the Hallville Masonic Institute at Hallville, Texas, and a year later removed to Ottawa, Kansas, where he continued for twelve years in the practice of medicine.
During the civil war both he and his father were members of the one hundred and twenty-fifth Illinois infantry, and served for three years and four months. His father was surgeon of his regiment, and the son became assistant to the brigade surgeon. Dr. William F. Wilkins entered the service as a private, and was several times wounded. At the battle of Chickamauga he received a wound in the thigh, and at Buzzard's Roost, Georgia, in the head. He was then taken to the hospital, and upon his recovery was made assistant to the brigade surgeon, and continued to act in that capacity until the close of the war.
On removing to Ottawa, Kansas, Dr. Wilkins, of this sketch, joined his father in practice, and the partnership continued until he again went south to take charge of the high school at Tunnel Hill, Georgia. In 1885 he returned to Kansas, and in 1887 removed to Missouri, locating in Kansas City, where he has since made his home.
In 1887-8 he was graduated at the medical department of the Kansas City University, now the University Medical College, of this place. He had practiced in Kansas twelve 'years under license from the state board of health before entering the University Medi- cal College. Since 1887 he has been num- bered among the most progressive of the profession in Kansas City. He is now pro- fessor of the principles and practice of med- icine in the College of Physicians and Sur- geons, of Kansas City, Kansas, having with nine others founded that college in 1894-5; is professor of physiology and histology in the Kansas City College of Dental Surgery, and acting president of the same; and is a charter member of the Kansas City Society of Physicians and Surgeons. The degrees of B. A., B. S., A. M., M. S. and M. D. have been conferred upon him. In 1887 he received the degree of Master of Arts from the Miami University, of Oxford, Ohio, of which R. W. McFarland, A. M., LL. D., is president; and in June, 1894, he received notice that the faculty of Miami University had conferred upon him the degree of Mas- ter of Science, in recognition of the merit of the thesis presented in an article on "The Effects of Alcohol on Man," which was pub- lished by the New York Medical Journal in September, 1894.
On the 25th of September, 1878, Dr. Wilkins was united in marriage with Miss Josephine Wilhite, daughter of J. H. and Elizabeth Wilhite, of Ottawa, Kansas. They have two children, Mary E. and Edith. The Doctor and his wife are members of the Baptist church. He is a Master Mason, an Odd Fellow, Knight of Pythias, and medi- cal examiner in the Knights and Ladies of Honor. He is also surgeon in the Grand Army of the Republic, an officer in the Sons
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AND JACKSON COUNTY, MISSOURI.
of Veterans, court physician of the Ancient Order of Foresters, and medical examiner in the Ancient Order of United Workmen. In politics he is a supporter of democratic prin- ciples.
J A. CLEMENTS .- For nearly thirty years the subject of this re- view has had his abiding place on his present farm in Jackson county, Missouri, and has occupied a prominent po- sition among the leading citizens of the com- munity. Thus he is too well known to need introduction here, and without further pre- face we pass on to a sketch of his life, which, including as it does a war record and many years on the frontier, is both interest- ing and instructive. First, however, we would glance briefly at his ancestry.
The Clements family originated in Ire- land. John Clements, the great-grandfather of this gentleman, belonged to the nobility of the Emerald Isle. While attending col- lege in his native land he became involved in trouble with a fellow student. A duel followed, in which he thought he had fatally wounded his opponent, and in order to avoid prosecution he at once set out for America. Here he met and married a Miss Thompson, who was of Scotch origin. They had a son, Roger Clements, born in North Carolina, January 1, 1762, who in early life was a participant in the Revolutionary war, also in contests with the Indians during the troubles with them in the early settlements of Kentucky by the white people. This Roger Clements and his wife were the par- ents of fourteen children, of whom the seventh, Zachariah Clements, born in Mont- gomery county, Kentucky, January 19, 1796, was the father of J. A. Clements. The
mother of our subject, whose maiden name was Virlinda Bramlett, was a native of Bourbon county. Kentucky, born about the year 1798, daughter of Henry Bramlett, one of the first settlers of Bryant's Station, Kentucky, where he was for many years a prominent man. Mr. Bramlett was of Welsh descent and was the father of eight children, -three sons and six daughters. It was in Bourbon county, Kentucky, December 21, 1819, that Zachariah Clements and Miss Virlinda Bramlett were married. They set- tled in Montgomery county, that state, where they lived until 1824, when they moved to Henry county, same state. In the latter county they passed the remainder of their lives and died. Her death occurred in the fall of 1872, and his on the 14th of April, 1880. Both were members of the Baptist church, in which he was prominent and active. Also he was active in politics, affiliating with the old-line democrats. They were the parents of eight children, namely : Mary Ann, deceased wife of John Cook: by her former husband, Elder Riggs, she had three children; Henry B., a resi- dent of Jackson county, Missouri; Hannah, wife of Thomas Clements, died in 1859, leaving three children; Dr. Preston Clem- ents, of Kentucky; J. A., whose name forms the heading for this article; Jane, wife of James Criswell, Grayson county, Kentucky, has ten children; Martin L. and his wife have three children, their home being on the old farm in Kentucky; and Francis Roland, Independence, Missouri.
J. A. Clements was born in Henry coun- ty, Kentucky, January 16, 1829, and was reared to manhood there. March 6, 1855, he married Miss Hannah A. Scrivner, a sis- ter of David M. Scrivner, prominent men- tion of whom is made elsewhere in this vol-
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ume. She was born December 26, 1838, and died January 29, 1887. Their union resulted in the birth of ten children, as follows: John B., born April 27, 1857, is a resident of Bates county, Missouri; George B., born November 22, 1858; Jefferson D., born April 29, 1861, married Miss Mattie Shelton, daughter of John and Lina Shel- ton; Joseph A., born December 9, 1866, married Miss Leota Bannister, and has one child, Frank; Bettie, born April 28, 1868; Mary C., born June 3, 1869; Virlinda, born December 4, 1870; Maggie J., born June 8, 1872, is the wife of Henry Meador, and has one child, John William; Jesse D., born September 5, 1873; and Emma Fran- ces Rose, born March 20, 1875.
After his marriage Mr. Clements settled in Clay county, Missouri, the date of his location there being in April, 1855. In November of the same year he removed to Osawatomie, Kansas, but the following April returned to Clay county, remaining there until fall. Then he came to Jackson county. His first location here was on sec- tion 18, township 47, range 32 (Washing- ton township), and since the spring of 1867 he has owned his present property on sec- tion 18. When the civil war came on he was at first neutral. Soon, however, he found it would be impossible to remain so. He had been born and reared in the south, his friends were here and his home and family were here, and, like General Lee, he chose the side upon which his family and his friends were arrayed. Accordingly, in the fall of 1861 we find him in line with the Confederates, where he fought as a true, brave soldier until the close of that san- guinary struggle. At first he entered the ranks as a teamster, driving a mess wagon for General Stiene. He joined General
Price's army in camp on Sac river, and re- mained in the capacity of teamster until January, 1862, when he enrolled in the regular Confederate service, under Captain Mckinney and Colonel Rosser. Later he was transferred to Captain William Lucas' battery, field artillery, which he joined at Cross Hollow, Arkansas. He took part in the following engagements: Pea Ridge, Farmington, Iuka, second Corinth, and the skirmishes on the retreat to Jackson, Mis- sissippi. The company was reorganized at Tupelo, Mississippi, before the battle of Corinth. He was at Champion hills and Black river, was all through the siege of Vicksburg, was paroled and placed in camp at Demopolis, Alabama, after which he was exchanged, and marched to Missionary Ridge. On this last march, however, the company to which he belonged was un- equipped for service in battle and took no part in the fight. He was on garrison duty at Mobile, Alabama, from Janu- ary, 1864, until the close of the con- flict, except when on an expedition to Jackson, Mississippi, and northeastern Lou- isiana. He surrendered his company at Meridian, Mississippi, in April, 1865, after a service of three years and five months. In all this active and arduous service he had the good fortune to receive no wounds. In speaking of his army life and comrades, Mr. Clements states that one of his messmates was James A. Reavis, the celebrated forger in the New Mexico and Arizona land deal.
At the close of the war Mr. Clements joined his family in Henry county, Ken- tucky, they having sojourned there during his absence, and in Kentucky they all re- mained until the spring of 1867, when they returned to their former home in Jackson county, Missouri, and here he has since re-
Antu M. Meninthis
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AND JACKSON COUNTY, MISSOURI.
sided. His farm comprises 200 acres of im- proved land, and he is comfortably situated to enjoy life in this naturally favored spot.
October 31, 1889, Mr. Clements married Rebecca J. Smith, nec Neville, a native of Barren county, Kentucky, born January 27, 1847, daughter of James and Virginia (Bailey) Neville, both natives of the county of Barren. Her grandfather, James Neville, was a son of James Neville, the progenitor of the family in Kentucky. The second Janies Neville was a participant in the war of 1812, and his father was a Revolutionary soldier. Mrs. Clements' father was one of a family of eight, only three of whom are now living: Mrs. Sallie Pointer, of Ken- tucky; William Neville, also of Kentucky; and Dr. George W. Neville, Wyandotte county, Kansas. Mrs. Clements was six years old when she came with her parents to Missouri, their first location being in Cooper county. Six months later they re- moved to Johnson county. April 15, 1863, while in La Fayette county buying hogs, her father was called to the door of the house in which he was stopping and was met by robbers who demanded of him his money. He told them $2.50 was all he had, and was instantly shot dead! His re- mains were taken to his home in Johnson county and interred in Basin Knob ceinc- tery. Mrs. Clements' first husband was Samuel Smith, of Cooper county, this state. He was a Confederate soldier, and he died leaving her without children.
Both our subject and his wife are mem- bers of the Missionary Baptist church, his membership in the church dating from 1860, and hers from 1868; and for a number of years he has been a deacon. His political views are those advocated by the demo- cratic party. He is a man who keeps him-
self well posted on the topics of the day, takes an active interest in public issues, and is progressive, prominent and popular. At one time he served as director of his school district. He has taken both a pride and pleasure in affording his children good educational advantages and in fitting them to occupy useful and honored positions in life.
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