USA > Missouri > Linn County > Compendium of history and biography of Linn County, Missouri > Part 27
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Mr. Bushnell's life began on a Linn county farm on August 8, 1870, and all its subsequent years have been passed on a Linn county farm. He is a son of Harvey and Ruth (Mason) Bushnell, natives of Vermont, who came to Missouri and located in Linn county in 1868. The father was a merchant in his native state, but became a farmer as soon as he reached Missouri. He bought 320 acres of unbroken land, which he later increased to 640. This land he broke up, improved to some extent and farmed until death ended his labors in 1880. The mother is still living and now resides in Brookfield. They had five children, three sons and two daughters, and three of their offspring are residents of this county.
Their son Murray was educated in the country schools in the neigh- borhood of the family homestead, and soon after leaving school began farming on his own account. He was trained to the later avocation of his father and it was agreeable to him. He began the battle of life in it, and he has adhered to it ever since. But he has conducted his operations in a way that has made them profitable to him and won a comfortable competence for life from the soil by cultivating it with skill and good judgment, and managing his affairs with prudence.
On September 8, 1899, Mr. Bushnell was married to Miss Laura E. Arbuthnot, a daughter of James and Sarah E. (Beemer) Arbuthnot, the former born in Greenfield, Highland county, Ohio, on September 3, 1841,
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and the latter in Norfolk county, Canada. In 1862 the father enlisted in the Union army in Company E, Ninety-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry, as a private. Later he was raised to the rank of adjutant of the regi- ment, a position which he resigned in 1866. He first served in the West, and afterward in the Army of the Potomac. After his resignation he returned to his former home in Adams county, Ohio, and remained there a short time.
He then came to Missouri and located on a farm in this county five miles south of Brookfield which he purchased. He farmed for a number of years and while doing so studied law, and in 1878 moved to Brook- field, where he practiced his profession and dealt extensively in real estate and loans until his death, which occurred on December 17, 1908. He was a gentleman of prominence and influence, a thorough business man and warmly interested in the progress and improvement of the city and county in which he lived, and the people appreciated his worth.
Mr. and Mrs. Bushnell have one child, their son Raymond A. They are members of the Presbyterian Church, and zealous in promoting every good work undertaken by the congregation to which they belong.
JONES BROTHERS
These young men, Carl and J. Paul Jones, are the sons and suc- cessors of one of the most enterprising and successful farmers of Jeffer- son township, and in their operations as farmers and live stock breeders they are exhibiting the same business capacity, progressive enterprise and studious inquiry into the demands of their industries that gave him his great success, and also the same traits of elevated and useful citizen- ship that fixed him so highly and securely in the regard and good will of the people.
They are the sons of the late May Jones and his wife, whose maiden name was Hortense Carothers. The father was born on May 26, 1854, on the farm which the sons are now cultivating, and which was pur- chased by their grandfather, Carleton Jones, about the year 1853. The grandfather was born in Warren, Herkimer county, New York, on February 26, 1817, and during his boyhood lived in various places, his parents being of a migratory disposition and constantly in search of a locality in which they could employ their faculties to the best advantage.
They lived for a number of years, however, in Huron county, Ohio, and there their son Carleton reached his manhood on a farm and ob- tained his education in the common schools. There, also, he learned the
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carpenter trade, and soon afterward moved to Laporte county, Indiana, and in 1842 to Brunswick in Chariton county, this state. In that town he worked at his trade until 1849, when he joined the first great rush to the newly discovered gold fields of California. Three years later he re- turned to his former Missouri home, and on July 10, 1853, was married to Miss Nancy Gaines, then a resident of Chariton county, but formerly living in Kentucky. Soon after their marriage the young couple moved to Linn county, and the husband purchased the farm of 500 acres in Jefferson township, which has ever since been and is now the home of the family.
May Jones, the father of Carl and J. Paul, was born on this farm in 1854, as has been noted, and died on it on April 22, 1911. In addition to his extensive and profitable farming operations, for a number of years he carried on a voluminous and profitable business in real estate and loan transactions, and in all his activities manifested a high order of business capacity and always a fine and fruitful public spirit. He was educated at a country school and in Laclede, and was married on February 12, 1880, to Miss Hortense Carothers, a daughter of James and Malinda (Lomax) Carothers, of Laclede. By this marriage he be- came the father of four children, all of whom are living. Eva, the first born, is now the wife of John H. Armbuster, and resides at Aurora, Illinois; the brothers who are the immediate subjects of this review, and Max, who is still living at home. The father was a Democrat politically, and filled a number of local offices in the township.
Carl Jones was born on the family homestead in 1884, and has been employed on it ever since he was large enough to work. He began his education in the district school near the farm and completed it in a school of higher grade in Brookfield. For a number of years before his father's death he had the active management of the farm and conducted it with gratifying success, keeping himself in touch with all the ad- vancements in the science of agriculture and applying all the knowledge he could gain from diligent study and close observation of his business to his work greatly to his own benefit and that of the farm.
J. Paul Jones was also born on this farm, where his life began in 1889. He, likewise, began his education in the district school in the neighborhood of his home, but completed it at the State Normal School in Kirksville, Missouri. He was married on June 20, 1911, to Miss Agnes Thompson, a daughter of Parmelous M. and Nannie (Drummond) Thompson, of Linn county.
After Paul left school the brothers formed a partnership for the management of the farm and other industries growing out of that, and
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this coalition is still in operation. A few years ago they saw the need of live stock improvement in this part of the state, and believed there was a fine opportunity to make an effort in this direction profitable to its promoters. Accordingly they began breeding Holstein cattle and Berk- shire hogs, and have ever since been enlarging their operations in this industry until they now occupy a leading place in it in this territory, and have a fine reputation in many localities for the excellence of their products, on which they bestow their utmost care and attention all the time.
On their farm the state of Missouri has established a branch soil experiment station, and they have charge of it. This institution, which is registered as "The Oaks," is doing a great work for the farmers in this part of Missouri and the adjacent states, and is held in high appre- ciation by the people on all sides who are within reach of it, while the reports made of its work by the Jones brothers have an extensive circu- lation and are eagerly sought for and in great demand. In their farm- ing, in their live stock industry and in their soil experiment work these gentlemen are rendering the public excellent service, and their active and helpful interest in the affairs of the county generally is also very beneficial. And their work is warmly appreciated, which is very credit- able to the people, and all the interests that have the benefit of it.
PEOPLES BANK OF BROWNING
This is a state bank and was founded in July, 1902, with a capital stock of $30,000, all paid in. The first officers were J. W. Schrock, president; James Neet, vice president; S. L. Gibson, cashier, and E. C. Bailey, assistant cashier. Mr. Schrock died soon after the bank was started, and J. G. Watson served as president for one year, at the end of which he was succeeded by James Neet, who is still at the head of the institution. At this time H. C. Bailey was chosen vice president and R. C. Bailey, assistant cashier. The first board of directors was com- posed of J. W. Schrock, J. G. Watson, J. I. Van Fossen, W. E. Duck- worth, James Neet, S. L. Gibson and Benjamin Mairs. The board is now the same as at first except that C. H. Wallace succeeded Mr. Schrock as a member, and was in turn succeeded by A. E. Lambert. The directors are all men of large interests and high standing where they live, and are well known throughout this section of the country. The bank has now a surplus of $6,500. It carries on a general banking business embracing all approved modern forms of banking.
Samuel L. Gibson, the organizer of the bank and its cashier from
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the beginning of its history, is a native of Benton township, Linn county, and came into being on a farm south of Browning on September 6, 1858. He is a son of George W. and Harriet A. (Schrock) Gibson, the former a native of this county and the latter of Virginia. The father was born on a Linn county farm in 1837. He grew to manhood on that farm, which he assisted in clearing, and resided on it until 1866. He then bought 500 acres of unimproved land south of Browning, which he improved, brought to advanced productiveness and resided on for thirty years.
In 1897 he moved to Browning, where he now lives, and where the mother died in 1909. They had four children who are living, their son Samuel L. being the only one of the four resident in this county. The father is a Freemason and an Odd Fellow, being a charter member of the lodge in the latter fraternity to which he belongs. His parents, William F. and Sarah (Brookshire) Gibson, came from their native state of Tennessee to this county in 1835, making the journey with teams and bringing their cattle and other movable property along with them.
A few months after their arrival in this county they entered a tract of timber land, which they cleared and on which the mother died in 1855. The rest of the family lived on that farm until 1866, when they separated, the grandfather of Samuel moving to Browning, where he died in 1888. He and his wife were the parents of five sons and three daughters, all of whom are living but two. After the death of his first wife, the grandfather married one of her sisters as his second wife, and by this marriage he became the father of three children, two of whom, both sons, are living. In politics he was first a Whig, and after the death of the Whig party, a Democrat.
Samuel L. Gibson was reared on his father's farm in Benton town- ship, and obtained his education in the district school in its vicinity. He engaged in farming until 1894, when he moved to Browning to take the cashiership of the Peoples Exchange Bank. In 1897 this institution became the Farmers Exchange Bank, and he served as its cashier until 1902, when he resigned and organized the Peoples Bank of Browning, with which he has ever since been connected. He also assisted in organ. izing and now represents the Stockgrowers Bank of Purdin, the Citizens Bank of Winigan, the Citizens Bank of Laredo, the Citizens Bank of Linneus, the Farmers State Bank of New Boston, the Citizens Bank of Bucklin, and the Farmers and Traders Bank of Dawn, the last a private institution, which is under the management of one of Mr. Gibson's sons, Arthur E., the first born of his offspring.
In 1903 Mr. Gibson sold all his farming and other land in this
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county, and also a farm of 2,700 acres which he owned in Kansas, and since then he has given all his time and attention to the affairs of the bank. But he still owns his beautiful and finely appointed residence in Browning. This is one of the most attractive and best equipped dwell- ings in Linn county, and although it is located in a town of less than 1,000 inhabitants, it would adorn a fashionable residence district in some large city. The dwelling house is located on a commanding site four blocks from the Peoples Bank, and adjoining it is an eight-acre tract of land sloping gracefully to the south and west.
From basement to roof the building is a model in design and equip- ment. It contains ten rooms above the basement, heated by hot water throughout and thoroughly lighted by the Datonia Acetylene gas sys- tem with electric igniters, making its illumination as convenient as if done by electric lighting. From an exhaustless living well the entire building is supplied with hot and cold water by means of the Bethalto Water System of St. Louis, run by a gasoline engine, and the United States American Radiator heating apparatus. The cooking is done by gas heat and the laundering and similar work is done in the basement, which is sealed with cement and perfectly dry. The apartments on the first floor, with the exception of the kitchen and bath room are all thrown together by open grill work. In all parts the living apartments are artistically adorned, and the furniture is in keeping with all the other features of the residence.
At present this beautiful home is occupied by only Mr. Gibson and his wife, their three sons being all in business at other places. Mrs. Gibson's maiden name was Flora M. Purdin, and she is a daughter of Luther and Susan (Lane) Purdin, residents of Linn county who are held in the highest esteem. She was united in marriage with Mr. Gib- son on August 17, 1884, and they have three sons: Arthur E. is in charge of one of his father's banks, which is located at Dawn, Livingston county, this state; Roy E. is a director and the secretary of the Commer- cial Trust Company of St. Louis; and Lyle C. is receiving teller in the day and Night Bank in that city. They are all young men of high character and fine business and social qualities, and share fully in the cordial regard in which their father and mother are held in this county, and also stand well in the esteem of the people where they are now living.
In political relations Mr. Gibson is a Democrat of firm faith in the principles of his party and loyal to its interests to the core. But he has never been a very active partisan, and at no time in. his life has he desired a public office of any kind. Fraternally he is connected with
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the Masonic Order, the Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America. In support of the material advancement of his county and northern Missouri, he is always earnest, energetic and far-seeing; and with reference to moral, mental and social advancement, and efforts to promote it, he is one of the most diligent and resourceful men in this part of the state. All over Missouri his name stands high in public estimation, and all who know him well agree that no rank in citizenship is above what his genuine merit entitles him to hold and enjoy.
JAMES DUDLEY SHIFFLETT
Of French ancestry on his father's side and British on his mother's, and the grandson of two men who fought on opposite sides during our Revolutionary War, but afterward became good and true American citizens, and with his father making a creditable record as a soldier in the War of 1812, James Dudley Shifflett, for many years one of the leading farmers and public officials of Linn county, had plenty of in- spiration to good citizenship and valor in war, if he had occasion to show it, in the history and examples of his forefathers. His record gives abundant proof that he has lived up to the standard of patriotism set by them, although he has never followed the flag of his country to the battlefield.
Mr. Shifflett is a genuine old-timer in Missouri, and has passed the whole of his eighty-six years of life within the confines of the state. He was born in Howard county on April 18, 1825, and is a son of Hasten and Susan (Estell) Shifflett. The father was born in Virginia in 1791, and after reaching manhood farmed extensively in that state. He promptly joined the American army at the beginning of the War of 1812, and took part in several of its most sanguinary battles. He was taken prisoner at the defeat of Col. Dudley's troops and for some time thereafter languished in captivity.
About the year 1802 he left Virginia with his parents in their removal to Kentucky, whither the tide of emigration was then moving in considerable volume, and found a new home with the family on a farm in Madison county in that state. Twenty-one years later, in 1823, he moved to Missouri and took up his residence in Howard county, where he remained until 1846. In that year he changed his residence to Linn county, in the vicinity of Linneus, and there he passed the re- mainder of his days, dying on his farm on December 2, 1877. His remains were buried in Fore cemetery amid many manifestations of popular respect and esteem.
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Mr. Shifflett was married in 1811 to Miss Susan Estell, and they became the parents of fifteen children, three of whom are still living; James Dudley, the immediate subject of this brief review, who resides with his daughter on her farm seven or eight miles north of Brookfield and about five miles due east of Linneus; Hasten Tussey, whose home is at Krum, Texas; and Lorenzo Dow, who is a resident of Arkansas. The mother died in 1872, and her remains were buried in Fore cemetery also.
Mr. Shifflett's paternal grandfather, Thomas Shifflett, was a French soldier and in one of the bodies of troops that came from France to assist the American colonies in their war for independence. He found this country agreeable to him and became an American citizen, making his home in Virginia. The grandfather on the mother's side, George Estell, was a British soldier whom the fortunes of the same war brought to our shores. He came as a belligerent to aid in our conquest or subjuga- tion to British rule, but he too was pleased with the country, and never returned to his own. After the Revolution he swore allegiance to the United States and passed the rest of his life in this country as one of its most loyal and dutiful citizens, acquiring considerable wealth.
James D. Shifflett became a resident in Linn county in 1846, at the very dawn of his manhood, and began farming on Parson creek. Dur- ing the Civil War he served about nineteen months in the Home Guards, which comprises all the military service he ever saw. From 1852 to 1863 he was a teacher in the country schools of the county, and after- wards he served as judge of probate for a term of four years. After the end of his term as probate judge he served some years as public ad- ministrator, and prior to it was assessor of the North East district of the county when it was divided into four assessment districts; and from time to time, when he was occupying no other office, he has been pre- vailed on to accept that of justice of the peace.
On September 5, 1852, Mr. Shifflett was united in marriage with Miss Mary Elizabeth Pace. Eleven children were born of the union and six of them grew to maturity. Five are now living: C. H., whose home is at Milton, Iowa; Ann Eliza, who is the wife of T. H. Barbee, of Lac- lede, Missouri; Miss Lou, who is at present living on the home farm with her parents; Emma Elizabeth, the wife of J. B. Carothers, who also resides in Laclede; and George W., who is living on and cultivating the farm.
The venerable patriarch, whose life-story is briefly told in this memoir, is an interesting link which connects the remote past of Linn county, when it was just emerging from the wilderness, putting on the garb of civilization and starting on its luminous career of progress and
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development, with its present advanced state of improvement, industrial and commercial power and earnest aspirations toward far loftier heights of attainment. He has witnessed every step of the advance, and accord- ing to his opportunities and ability, has helped them all along. At no time in his life has he ever hesitated to perform his part of the work of improvement, or withheld his hand from any undertaking designed to further and quicken the movement. The people of the county know his record and revere him for the service he has rendered and the example of elevated and useful citizenship he has given and is still giving. He is one of the most esteemed men in this part of the state, and well deserves to be.
ALLEN W. PURDIN
Having been actively engaged in general farming and raising live stock on a scale as large as his facilities would allow from his youth, first, for a number of years under the direction and supervision of his father, and also for other men, and for a long time now on his own account; having conducted his operations in Indiana, Ohio and Missouri, and encountered different conditions and requirements in all of these states; and having had at least a taste of military service during the Civil War, Allen W. Purdin, an enterprising, progressive and therefore prosperous farmer of Linn county, Grantsville township, has had ex- perience in useful labor and association with men in several widely separated places and in a variety of occupations and surroundings. He has profited by his experience in building up his career, and made all its lessons tell to his advantage.
Mr. Purdin is a native of Madison, Jefferson county, Indiana, where his life began on June 10, 1833. His father was Charles B. Purdin, who was born on February 28, 1796, and was a farmer and mechanic. He moved to Ohio with his parents when he was a boy, and with them found a new home in Brown county. There he was reared, educated and acquired an intimate practical knowledge of the two employments he followed through life. In 1819 he was united in marriage with Miss Mary Duffy, and by this marriage they became the parents of twelve children, only three of whom are now living: Alexander, who resides at Purdin, in this county; Charles, whose home is in Muskogee, Okla- homa; and Allen W., whose dwelling is six miles north of Brookfield.
The last named, who is the interesting subject of this brief review, came to Missouri with his parents in 1871, and located with them in Howard county, where he remained four years. In 1875 the whole
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family moved to Linn county, and took up their residence near where the village of Purdin now stands. The father donated the land for the townsite of this village, and in grateful recognition of his generosity, the people named the place in his honor. The father passed away in Linneus. His remains were buried in the cemetery at Purdin.
Since coming to Missouri, Mr. Purdin, the son, has always followed farming and been engaged in raising live stock. To both lines of his undertaking he has given careful study and close attention, welcoming any new suggestion in either that seemed good to him, and endeavoring by all the means at his command to keep abreast with the most advanced thought and most approved methods in both. As a result he has pros- pered and risen to the front rank as a farmer and stock man in his township, and is widely and favorably known for his enterprise and progressiveness in other parts of the county. For, while he is not de- monstrative in reference to his work, his methods and the results achieved by them have attracted attention and fixed his reputation as one of the leading agriculturists in this part of the state.
Mr. Purdin is also highly esteemed as an enterprising and public spirited citizen, who can always be relied on to take his part and do his full share in promoting all lines of public improvement and aiding in the progress and development of the county to its highest standard of power in material productiveness and wealth, and its loftiest plane of intellectual, moral, social and civil attainment. He is a member of the Christian Church, and has served as one of the elders in the congrega- tion to which he belongs during the last fourteen years. He also served ninety days in the Provisional Guard during the Civil War, being en- rolled on the Union side of the great sectional conflict that came so near tearing our country asunder.
On January 1, 1858, Mr. Purdin was married to Miss Anna Lane, a daughter of William Lane, long esteemed residents of Chariton county, this state. Of the four children born of the union three are living: William E., who is a prosperous farmer dwelling on a fine tract of land one mile south of his father's place; and Charles and Elizabeth, who are still members of the parental family circle, and assisting their parents in the labors of the farm and its agreeable and hospitable household. All the members of the family stand well in the community and are highly esteemed for the upright- ness of their lives, their interest in the welfare of their township and county, and their excellent examples as high-toned and estimable citizens.
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