USA > Missouri > Jackson County > Kansas City > A memorial and biographical record of Kansas City and Jackson County Mo. > Part 55
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AND JACKSON COUNTY, MISSOURI.
Grahame M., Mary E., William G. and Caroline.
In 1884 Mr. Chiles was elected associate judge of the Jackson county court from the eastern district, on the democratic ticket, and was re-elected in 1886, serving for four years. He was a member of the court when the new office building at Independence was erected, and when the contract was let for the building of the county court-house at Kansas City. His fidelity to duty was above question, and in all the relations of life he has been true to his honest convic- tions.
Since 1861 he has been connected with the Christian church, and is now acting as deacon and trustee of Buckner church. He owns and manages a farm of three hundred and twenty acres on sections 16 and 17, Fort Osage township.
There has been much in his life of an exciting nature through his experience on the western frontier, but to-day he is quietly performing the duties of an agriculturist and enjoying the prosperity that his own labor has brought to him. He has the respect and confidence of all who know him and his friends are many.
heroes of the Revolution. The parents were married in their native county, where they made their home until 1831, and then came to Missouri, spending one winter three miles southeast of Independence. In 1832 they removed to Blue Strings, being the first settlers at that point. In the county there were few inhabitants, the greater part of the land was still as nature had left it, and the region seemed on the very border of civiliza- tion, for to the westward stretched miles and miles of prairie, over which white men had never traveled and which was largely thought to be unfit for cultivation. Mr. Harris secured a tract of land, partly prairie and partly timber, and at once began the development of a farm, continuing its culti- vation until his death, which occurred about 1847. His wife long survived him, passing away in 1877. They were members of the Baptist church. The father was an indus- trious, energetic man, fitted for pioneer life, and was fond of hunting. In his later years he engaged in preaching to some ex- tent.
The family numbered fifteen children, fourteen of whom reached years of maturity, while six are now living: William, of this county, who married Martha McPherson and has eight sons; S. B .; John, of Van Buren township; Doctor, of California; Ephaniah, wife of Robert McPherson, of California, has fourteen children; and J. Marshall, also of the Golden state: he mar- ried Alice Hunter and has five children. One son, Lee, served in the civil war. Those who are deceased were : Jesse, who married Elisabeth Gibson and had seven children; Nancy, who became the wife of William Burrus and had ten children; Flem- ing, who married Mary Slaughter and had
S B. HARRIS .- In early colonial days the Harris family of which our subject is a representive was estab- lished on American soil, and for some years was connected with the history of Virginia. The grandfather, Reuben Harris, was born in the Old Dominion, and the father, William Harris, was born in Patrick county, that state, in 1795. He married Rhoda Burnet, who was born in the same county in 1800, and was a daughter of Jerry Burnet, a Virginian, and one of the I eleven children; Isom married Margarett 26
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A MEMORIAL RECORD OF KANSAS CITY
Johnson, and had three children; Reuben married Jane Meutry, and had three children; Judalı Ann married Frank Ingram, and had three children; Lee married Phebe Wright and had four children, two of whom were swept away by a cyclone, and the other two escaped serious injury.
Mr. Harris of this review was born in Virginia, May 12, 1831, and was only six months old when the family came to Mis- souri. He was educated in the district schools of Blue Springs and reared on the home farm. His father died when he was eighteen years of age, after which he and his mother made a trip to Virginia, and brought back with them to their Missouri home the grandfather Burnet, who continued to live with them until ninety-nine years of age, when his life's labors werc ended. In 1852 Mr. Harris made a trip across the plains to California with ox teams, reaching Napa valley after four months of travel. There he remained for one year, after which he crossed the Sacramento river to the San Ramon valley, where he continued for six years engaged in farming. In the fall of 1859 he returned home and continued on his mother's farm for two years, after which he settled on the farm where the town of Blue Springs now stands. He continued there until 1863, when he was burncd out by the soldiers and left the county under order No. 11, going to Logan county, Illi- nois, where he remained two years. He then returned to his desolated farm, erected new buildings and made his home thereon for three years, when he sold out prepara- tory to removing to Bates county. For thirteen years he was a resident of that locality. On the expiration of that period he returned to Jackson county, settling in Brooklyn township, where he bought land.
He afterward owned a farm at Blue Springs, but both of these properties he sold, and since 1887 has resided upon his present farm, where he owns 200 acres of improved land, all under a high state of cultivation. He gives his attention exclusively to general farming, and the rich lands of Jackson county have been made doubly fertile and productive through the progressive efforts of such men as our subject.
Mr. Harris was married in August, 1860, to Parlee Webb, a native of Jackson county, Missouri, and a daughter of John Webb, one of the pioneer settlers here. They have seven children: Lucy M., wife of Michael Heiser, of Kansas, by whom she has three children; James T., who married Miss Rice, and with his wife and one child lives in Prairie township; Emma, wife of James Andrews, of Blue Springs, by whom she has two children; Oscar, a farmer of Prairie township, who married Helen Hicklin, and has one child; John, of Prairie township, who wedded Maud Sample; Charles and Albert. The mother of this family died in 1877. On the Ist of November, following, Mr. Harris was united in marriage with Cornelia Mc- Clintock, a native of Hancock county, Illi- nois, and a daughter of Glasgow and Nancy (Imen) McClintock, both natives of Illinois. The grandfathers were James McClintock and Henry Imen. The parents of Mrs. Harris were married in Illinois and made their home in Hancock county until 1867, when they became residents of Johnson county, Missouri. They are now living in Jasper county, this state. They had nine children, namely: Cornelia, Jane, Mrs. Susan Keefer, John, William, Harvey, deceased, Ada, Nellie and one who died in childhood. The parents are members of the Dunkard church, and he is a preacher of that faith.
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AND JACKSON COUNTY, MISSOURI.
Mrs. Harris was born January 10, 1855, acquired her education in Bates county, Mis- souri, and prior to her marriage successfully engaged in teaching. By her marriage she has become the mother of four children, as follows: Effie Prudence, Alvin Birks, Car- rie Ann and Glasgow C. Mr. and Mrs. Harris are members of the Christian church and are highly esteemed people of the com- munity. At one time he was the candidate of the democratic party for the office of judge of the county court, and was defeated by only two votes. He has frequently been a delegate to the conventions of his party, and is an active worker in its interests. He is now serving as a member of the school board, and does all in his power to promote the interests of education and to aid all enterprises calculated to benefit the com- munity.
Mr. Harris has spent much of his time in the sports of the chase, hunting deer, bear, turkey, etc., in the Rocky and Sierra Nevada mountains and in Indian Territory. He has been greatly successful with the rifle.
ILLIAM G. PRICE, D. D. S., who is engaged in the practice of dental surgery in Kansas City, was born at Irvine, Estill county, Kentucky, and is a son of Morton M. and Fannie (Crosthwait) Price, natives of Harri- son county, Kentucky. Both parents have now passed away and of their family of seven children one also has departed this life. Those who still survive are Mrs. Emma Overlin, of Evansville, Indiana; Taylor, who is living in Glen Mary, Tennes- see; Edwin B. and Joseph C., both of Evansville, Indiana; Mrs. John W. Chris-
tian, of Chilesburg, Kentucky; and the Doctor.
Dr. Price spent the days of his boyhood and youth in Irvine, Kentucky, and the pub- lic schools of his neighborhood afforded him his literary privileges. In 1874 he removed to Evansville, Indiana, and six years later took up the study of dentistry in the office of Dr. Isaiah Haas, of that place. He afterward attended the Ohio College of Dental Surgery in Cincinnati, Ohio, and was graduated at that institution with the class of 1881. Immediately afterward he opened an office in Evansville, and prac- ticed there until 1885, when he came to Kansas City, where he has since made his home. In 1890, when the Western Dental College of Kansas City was organized, he be- came a member of its faculty and at present holds the position of demonstrator of opera- tive dentistry and president of the board of directors of that college. He is also a member of the executive committee.
The Doctor is a thirty-second-degree Mason and also a prominent "Shriner." He belongs to the Uniform Rank of the Knights of Pythias; the Royal Arcanum and the Home Palladium, and holds his religious membership in the Grand Avenue Methodist Episcopal church of Kansas City.
3 OHŃ H. LEWIS, one of the best known and most successful small- fruit growers of Jackson county, Missouri, was born June 1, 1825, in Wayne county, Indiana. His early life was spent on a farm, where he assisted his father in the clearing of a large tract of land. In the winter he attended the local schools, and, despite the brief months allowed him
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A MEMORIAL RECORD OF KANSAS CITY
for instruction, succeeded in obtaining a good practical knowledge of the principal branches. He was married in Randolph county, Indiana, December 25, 1852, to Miss Elizabeth E. Kelso, who was a native of Sullivan county, Indiana. She was edu- cated at Terre Haute and Crawfordsville Academies. After his marriage they resided on a farm in Randolph county, Indiana, until 1883, when coming to Missouri they located near Blue Springs and commenced growing small fruit, strawberries, raspber- ries, blackberries and plums.
Mr. Lewis is a member of the Missouri Valley Horticultural Society, where his ad- vice is eagerly sought. His knowledge of soils and the fruits best adapted to the various localities is most complete. He is constantly experimenting, and has made some valuable discoveries in the combination of varieties. He also keeps in touch with other growers, and profits by their skill.
His family consists of three children: Charles L. Lewis, residing at Englewood, near Independence, Missouri; Oliver M. Lewis, a fruit-grower near Blue Springs; and a daughter, Nana Lewis.
The religious belief of Mr. and Mrs. Lewis is in Spiritualism, and he is a repub- lican in politics.
J OHN THOMAS RENICK is num- bered among the pioneer settlers of Jackson county and has been promi- nently connected with experiences that form the history of early development in the West. Freighting over the plains, the danger of encounter with the Indians and traveling over miles and miles of terri- tory without seeing the habitation of white man,-these are some of the experiences
with which he was familiar in early life, as well as with the work of developing a home in a frontier settlement.
Mr. Renick is a native of Jackson county, his birth having occurred on the Ist of April, 1834, in the first hotel in Independence, now the old Twyman House. His parents were Leonard H. and Jane L. (Porter) Renick, the former a native of Barren county, Ken- tucky, and the latter of Tennessee. The father came to Missouri in 1819 with his father, Colonel Henry Renick, who was a soldier in the war of 1812, in which he won his title. They located in La Fayette county, Missouri, and the grandfather was afterward a member of the Missouri militia. The Porter family came to this state in 1821, settling in Clay county. The maternal grandfather was Joseph Porter, who died in early life. The parents of our subject were married in Clay county and came to In- dependence in 1831. There the father con- ducted a hotel until 1837, when he returned to La Fayette county, settling fifteen miles south of Lexington, where he lived until 1854. His later years were passed in But- ler, Bates county, Missouri, in the home of his son, Dr. Renick, and he died in Dodge City, Kansas, at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Dr. Wright, March 2, 1887, at the age of eighty-three years, his birth having occurred on the 6th of December, 1803. He retained his mental and physical faculties unimpaired up to the very last. His wife died June 22, 1879, and her birth occurred May 1, 1804. In their family were nine children, seven of whom are yet living. One brother, William, resides in Jackson county; another, Henry P., in Golden, Mis- souri, while Dr. O. F. Renick is living in Butler.
Our subject remained at home until twen-
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AND JACKSON COUNTY, MISSOURI.
ty-eight years of age, but after passing his twentieth birthday engaged in the freighting business as a wagonmaster for the firm of Russell, Major & Waddell, government contractors, hauling from Fort Leaven- worth and Kansas City. He remained with that firm for five years, making trips to Fort Union, Santa Fe, Fort Kearny, Salt Lake City and elsewhere. The wagon trains were made up of about twenty-seven wagons, each hauled by six yoke of oxen, carrying from three and a half to four tons to each load. There were also four or five inen in addition to the drivers to aid in case of Indian attacks. They had, how- ever, very little trouble with the Indians, although they had to endure various hard- ships in connection with such a life.
After five years spent with the first com- pany, Mr. Renick entered the employ of John J. Carr, soon formed a partnership with him, and for two years they were en- gaged in hauling merchandise, making trips largely into Montana and Salt Lake. He also engaged in hauling goods for the Mor- mon church one year, that religious organi- zation having a train of twenty-seven wagons which had been made in St. Louis. Mr. Renick also freighted to Virginia City and Helena, Montana, reaching the latter city in the autumn after its establishment in the spring. He then visited nearly all of the mining camps in that locality. When the Pony Express was established he assisted in this enterprise and was connected therewith until July, 1866-a period of nine years. He received at first one dollar and fifty cents per hundred pounds for each hundred miles. On one trip he received $2,280 for each wagon-load taken to Salt Lake City! In 1864 he hauled the first organ for the taber- nacle for the Mormons at Salt Lake. It was
imported from London, and was fourteen feet long and six feet wide.
In 1866 Mr. Renick came to his present farm, and with the capital he had acquired through his own exertions purchased 200 acres of land on section 16, Sniabar town- ship. This he has greatly improved, trans- forming it into a valuable tract, and in addi- tion to the raising of grains he has engaged extensively in dealing in stock. His success has been achieved through his own energy and good management and ranks him among the substantial citizens of the community.
On the 20th of March, 1862, Mr. Renick was united in marriage with Miss Ruth J., daughter of William Renick, of Jackson county, a distant relative. She died in December, 1873. On the 2d of March, 1875, Mr. Renick wedded Miss Mary Pal- lette, daughter of Armstrong and Sarah (Moore) Pallette, natives of Tennessee, who came to Jackson county about 1830 and set- tled on the western line of La Fayette county. Three years later they located in Sniabar township, four and a half iniles northwest of Oak Grove, where the father died March 12, 1882, at the age of seventy- six years. For forty years he was an elder in the Cumberland Presbyterian church at Pleasant Prairie, and was one of nature's noblemen. His wife, a most estimable lady, passed away March 15, 1892, at the ad- vanced age of eighty-seven. In their family were five children, four of whom are yet liv- ing. The youngest daughter, Dora, now the wife of William H. Renick, lives on the old family homestead, which is owned by herself and sister Lizzie. The Pallette fam- ily was originally of French descent. Mr. Renick has two children by his first mar- riage-Charles V., a merchant of Oak Grove; and William L., a practicing physi-
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A MEMORIAL RECORD OF KANSAS CITY
cian of Independence. The children of the second marriage are Dora, Ira, Laddie, Benton, Bessie and Thomas.
Mr. Renick is a stalwart democrat and and free-silver man, and for about fifteen years has continuously been a delegate to tlie conventions of his party, but has never sought office. He and his family belong to tlie Cumberland Presbyterian church of Pleasant Prairie, of which he was a deacon for a long period, and is now elder. He has been a member of the Masonic lodge since 1858, and served as its master for about six years.
a LAUDE C. HAMILTON, deceased, late president of the Kansas City College of Pharmacy, was one of the most brilliant and honored young men of the west, and though his death seemed so untimely he had accomplished in the short span of his life a work far greater and more beneficial to humanity than many who complete the Psalmist's span of three- score years and ten. His life was sacrificed to science in the interest of his fellow-men, and what he accompished in the chemical world, together with his honorable career, will make his name known and honored through a long period.
Dr. Hamilton was a native of Atchison, Kansas, born April 17, 1866, and is a son of Dr. Henry B. and Lizzie H. (Craig) Hamilton, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Ray county, Missouri. The father is a physician of prominence, and a graduate of the medical department of the Transylvania University, of Lexington, Ken- tucky. When a child of eleven years he came to Missouri, and for some time made his home at Crab Orchard. In 1882 he re-
moved from that place to Lathrop, and is still practicing there. About the close of the war he resided for a few months in Atch- ison, Kansas. He occupies an eminent place in the ranks of his profession, and is a leading Mason in the state. In the family were two sons, the brother of our subject being Dr. Charles L., a graduate of the Missouri Medical College and now a practi- tioner of Canandaigua, New York.
Dr. Claude C. Hamilton was reared in Missouri and his early education was obtained in the public schools. By private tutors he was instructed in geometry and trigonome- try and under the direction of his father took up the study of medicine. Early in his boyhood days he manifested a decided pre- dilection for the study of chemistry and its kindred sciences, and all during his brief life it was his absorbing passion. Having gradu- ated with honor at Richmond College, of Richmond, Missouri, he afterward clerked in a drug store in Lathrop, and in 1885 came to Kansas City, where for a time he was employed in a drug store on James street, owned by W. M. Barry. Here he continued his studies and investigations, and in 1887 entered both the University Medical College and the Kansas City College of Pharmacy, in which he was graduated in 1889, being the first one to complete the course in the latter institution. After leav- ing college he was elected to the chair of chemistry in the Kansas City College of Pharmacy and the Western Dental College, and in 1895 he was elected to the same posi- tion in the Kansas City Veterinary College, in which capacities he served until his death. In 1894 he was elected to the presidency of the Kansas City College of Pharmacy, and re-elected in 1895, his duties including those often allotted to a dean in other educational
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AND JACKSON COUNTY, MISSOURI.
institutions. Although a young man, Dr. Hamilton ocupied one of the most promi- nent and responsible positions in his profes- sion. He devoted his time largely to ana- lytical work and was the author of the American edition of Muter's Analytical Chemistry, the world-wide recognized au- thority in that branch of science. He con- tributed various articles of interest and value to many pharmaceutical journals, and these papers showed a broad and comprehensive grasp of the subject, which drew the atten- tion of many of the profound thinkers of the age. His work as chairman of the commit- tee on drug adulterations of the Missouri Pharmaceutical Association was careful, in- telligent and most satisfactory, and displayed an excellent mastery of the subject.
In 1890 was celebrated the marriage of Dr. Hamilton and Miss Alva McKimm, of Lathrop, Missouri, an estimable and ac- complished lady, who in the loss of her husband has the sincere sympathy of many warm friends, for all who knew him had for him the highest regard. Dr. Hamilton was a member of the Presbyterian church and showed the spirit of his Christian belief in the many acts of kindness and charity which formed a part of his professional life. So- cially he was connected with the Knights of Pythias. His connection with scientific organizations was most honorable to him, - an evidence of his high standing in the pro- fession. He was a member of the Amer- ican Chemical Society, the Kansas City Academy of Medicine, the Jackson County Medical Society, the Missouri State Phar- maceutical Association and the American Pharmaceutical Association. In the fall of 1894, he was elected a Fellow of the So- ciety of Chemical Industry, of London, England, -an honor won by his high merit.
In 1890 he was selected as one of the revis- ion committee of the United States Phar- macopœia, the standard for America.
We cannot better close this review of one who had attained a degrre of eminence in his profession seldom reached by few of his age than by incorporating an article called "The Martyrs of Science," which was published in one of the Kansas City papers at the time of the death of Dr. Hamilton, which occurred March 10, 1896. The notice read as follows:
"The death of Dr. Claude C. Hamilton of this city adds another to the roll of mar- tyrs of science, a list which no man can number. Dr. Hamilton came of a long line of vigorous ancestors, particularly free from any predisposition to lung diseases, and in early youth seemed to possess the inherited health and strength of his race. He early adopted the profession of medicine and took his degree at the University Medical Col- lege. His attention was especially directed to chemistry and its relation to the healing art, and after much and varied service he held the chair of chemistry in four medical colleges in this city. He made a specialty of researches into the nature of tubercu- losis, and a part of his work was the chemi- cal analysis of the sputa and stomachs of consumptives. He was early warned of the dangerous nature of his employment, yet he persevered. Two years ago he was attacked with premonitory symptoms of the disease, the cure of which he sought; but, rallying for a time, resumed his labors. Last No- vember his voice failed and he was obliged to give up his lectures. It was the begin- ning of the end, and on Tuesday night he died, at the age of thirty years, as truly the victim of his sense of duty to his profession as if he had fallen on the field of battle in
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A MEMORIAL RECORD OF KANSAS CITY
the shadow of the colors in duty to his country.
" This is a brief story of patient heroism, such as may be told every day in the year, and will be told through all the years. Men of science, men of profession, seekers after the truths of nature, investigators, who would fain find out something to lessen the burden of human suffering, go every day open-eyed to their death; walk defenselessly amid the pestilence, taking the king of ter- rors by the hand and looking him in the face, yet supported the while by no plaudit and expectant of no earthly reward, as sol- diers who close up their ranks and move on silently to the assault without roll of drum or note of bugle. These save others: them- selves they do not save. Through what they do and suffer and learn the world is helped; the great weight of human misery is lifted; the path on which humanity moves is made smoother, the dying lips breathe in the lis- tening ear the message of hope, and so it is borne on forever."
ACH G. COOPER .- One of the best known citizens of Jackson county is " Uncle Zach Cooper," as he is usually called, who since pioneer days has resided in this locality, identified with its interests, devoted to its welfare and watchful of its progress and upbuilding. He well deserves representa- tion in this volume, which indeed would be incomplete without the record of his life. He was born September 8, 1815, on the old family homestead in Nelson county, Ken- tucky. His father was John Cooper, a native of Loudoun county, Virginia, and his grandfather, Benjamin Cooper, was a native of England. The mother of our subject,
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