USA > Missouri > Linn County > Compendium of history and biography of Linn County, Missouri > Part 36
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By judicious reading, observation and reflection he has greatly enlarged his knowledge and made himself a well informed man. It is but natural, under the circumstances, that he should take an earnest interest in the affairs of his township and county, educational, indus- trial, moral and political, and he has done so. Nothing of value that is undertaken for the welfare of the people or the proper progress and development of the region in which he lives ever goes without his active aid. His political faith is pledged and his political services are freely given to the Republican party, but he has never been desirous of any of its honors or emoluments for himself. He supports the party and its candidates because he believes in its principles, and without any direct regard for his own elevation in a public way, or his personal interests.
On April 19, 1883, he was united in marriage with Miss Sarah Jane Prather, a daughter of Enos and Martha (Shirley) Prather, highly respected old settlers in Linn county. Six children have been born of
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the union, and all of them are living. They are: John, who is a resi- dent of Brookfield; Cleo, whose home is also in that city; Rex, who lives on a farm near his father's; and Gladine, Samuel and Ruth, all of whom are still members of the parental family circle. Like their par- ents, the sons and daughters of the household are worthy members of the community and held in high regard and good will by the people. They are attentive to every duty and representative of the most sturdy and sterling citizenship of the county, with aspirations toward the best ideals and zealous efforts to reach them in every line of life in which they are employed or interested.
SAMUEL H. BURCH
The son of a valiant soldier who fought courageously in defense of the Union in the midst of unrolling columns on many a bloody battle- field of the Civil War, and who carried the marks of his service through all the subsequent years of his life, sometimes painfully but always proudly, Samuel H. Burch had an inspiration for his patriotism and devotion to his country ever present at his paternal fireside, and its influence still abides with him. He has never himself been anything but a farmer and first-rate citizen, but in those lines of activity and usefulness he has exemplified, amid the pursuits of peaceful industry, the same qualities of manly worth and fidelity to duty that his father showed so well on the gory fields of sectional and fratricidal strife.
Mr. Burch was born in Pike county, Indiana, on October 24, 1856. His parents were John and Elizabeth (Nixon) Burch, the former a native of the state of New York and the latter of Kentucky. The father's life began in Onondaga county, New York, in 1831, and in 1842, when he was eleven years old, the family moved to Indiana and located in Pike county. He grew to manhood in that county and remained there until 1866, except while he was in the Union army dur- ing the Civil War. In 1861, soon after the beginning of that momen- tous conflict, he enlisted in Company I, Forty-second Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and in that company he served to the close of the war, enter- ing the service as a private and being mustered out with the rank of captain, which he secured by gallantry on the field.
His regiment was a part of the great fighting force of General Thomas, and each member of it seemed to catch the spirit of that great soldier and renowned commander. Mr. Burch took part in all the battles of that army while he was free to do so, including the deluge
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of death at Chicamauga, the spectacular fight at Chattanooga and many others of note. His service was cut short of its full measure by his being taken prisoner and confined in Libby prison eleven months, but even as it was, he was wounded five times during his field work. He languished in the terrible military prison that has gone into history as one of the record-makers of deadly torture until 1865, when he was released.
When he came to Linn county in 1866 he located eight miles west of Linneus on a tract of unimproved land. This he transformed into a fine and fruitful farm, living on it until his death in 1884. His widow lived there two years longer, and died in 1886. They had ten children, six of whom are living : Ira J., a resident of the new state of Oklahoma ; Samuel H., who is the immediate subject of this brief review; James W., who lives in this county; Katharine, the wife of H. J. Wigginson of Linneus; Thomas A., an esteemed citizen of El Paso, Texas; and John, whose home is in Chillicothe, Missouri.
The father was a Republican in his political allegiance, and as such was once the candidate of his party for the lower house of the state legislature. Fraternally he was a Freemason. The Grand Army post at Eversonville was named John Burch in his honor. In religion he was an ardent working member of the Methodist Episcopal church. In all the relations of life he was a true, forceful and estimable man, and was universally esteemed as such.
His son, Samuel H., was about ten years of age when the family moved to Missouri and settled in Linn county. Here he received such preparatory scholastic training as the time and facilities of the region afforded, and afterward extended his mental development by a thor- ough course of instruction at the Kirksville State Normal school. After leaving that institution he taught school six years, and since leaving that occupation has given his whole attention to farming. In 1887 he moved to his present home, which is a fine farm of 160 acres, beautifully improved with good buildings, shade trees, ornamental grounds and other adornments of rural homesteads, and fully equipped according to the requirements of modern farming of the most pro- gressive type and character.
On October 7, 1886, he was married to Miss Minnie Stewart, a daughter of Charles and Sarah A. (Fell) Stewart. Five children have resulted from the union, all of whom are living. They are: Charles S., a prosperous farmer of this county; and Byron B., James W., Kath- arine S., and Helen M., all living at home yet with their parents. In connection with his farming operations the father has for years been
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feeding and handling for the markets a large number of cattle. He belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church, and is a member of the Order of Modern Woodmen of America.
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JOHN H. BROWN
Actively engaged in farming in Linn county for the last thirty years, and an extensive operator in rearing and feeding live stock for the markets during the last twenty, John H. Brown, of Locust Creek township, has been a valuable contributor to the industrial activity and commercial importance of the county for almost a generation of human life. While he has prospered in his business and accumulated a comfortable estate, he has also made his operations tell to the ad- vantage of the county, and has freely given his own time, attention and energy to aid in the great work of developing its resources and im- proving the conditions of life for all its people.
Mr. Brown is not a native of the county, and reached his estate of full manhood some years before he became a resident of it. But he is none the less loyal to its interests or zealous in seeking to promote its welfare than he would have been if he had been born within its limits and drawn his stature and his strength from its soil. His life began on a farm in the adjoining county of Macon, and not far from its county seat, on March 16, 1856, where his parents, Isaac and Irene (Taylor) Brown, were then living and carrying on general farming operations.
The father was born near Shelbyville, Kentucky, and for some years after reaching his maturity was engaged in farming in his native state. He moved to Missouri and located in Macon county in 1851, and there he passed the remainder of his days, dying in the spring of 1861. At the time of his death he owned a farm of 160 acres, and as the land was fertile and responsive, and he cultivated it with energy and skill, he prospered in his undertaking and accumulated a comfort- able competency.
His son John was reared and received a district schol education in Macon county, meanwhile obtaining valuable knowledge of his des- tined pursuit in life by practical experience in the work of his father's farm. For some years after leaving school he remained at home and assisted his father in the farm labors, then for a time farmed on his own account in his native county. In March, 1881, he moved to Linn county and bought eighty acres of good land, the nucleus of his pres-
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ent farm, and gave all his energies to its improvement and cultivation. He was successful from the start, because he applied assiduous indus- try and advanced intelligence to his work and management, and as he made headway he bought additional land, until he now owns 356 acres, and all of excellent quality for general farming and the rearing of live stock.
Mr. Brown has been alert and energetic in using all the means at his comamnd to quicken and enlarge his progress. As a means to this end, about twenty years ago he began to raise and feed cattle for the markets. In this department of his industry he has also enlarged his operations from a small beginning until he now ships two carloads of superior cattle to the great marts of trade nearly every year. He is careful in every step of the process of preparing his cattle for con- sumption, and they have a high rank in the markets because of the fine condition in which they arrive and their superiority to the ordi- nary run in many ways.
On December 18, 1882, Mr. Brown was married to Miss Gillie Ann Bunch. They have had ten children, seven of whom are living: Harry, who is in the employ of the government and lives in Washington, D. C .; Walter R., who resides on a farm of his own east of his father's; Charles M .; and Lola, who is a school teacher and makes her home with her parents; and Clessie P., Herman D., and Stanley J., all of whom are still dwelling at home under the parental rooftree. The father has always taken an earnest interest in the affairs of the county, but has never sought or desired a political office. He belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America and is a devoted and consistent member of the Christian Church.
CLAYTON HENRY McCORMICK
"Zealous to soar but never roam, true to the kindred points of Heaven and Home," Clayton H. McCormick, one of the prosperous and progressive farmers of Linn county, admirably located on 160 acres of productive land in Locust Creek township, is like the skylark in his aspirations and endeavors, and like it too in contentment with his lot in life. No temptation has been sufficient to lure him from his chosen occupation, and no showy promise of more rapid advance- ment has made him dissatisfied with it. Having put his hand to the plow in early life, he has never looked back or even sideways, but has
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kept straight ahead, working out his own prosperity and steadfastly maintaining his independence.
Mr. McCormick is a native of Waushara county, Wisconsin, where his life began on October 14, 1860, and a son of Matthew and Mary (Crandall) McCormick. The father was born in Lewis county, New York, in 1829, and remained there until he reached the age of fourteen. He then took up the battle of life for himself by leaving home and going to work on the Erie canal. In that service he was employed until he was twenty-one or twenty-two years old, and when he was about twenty-four, moved to Wisconsin and turned his attention to farming.
In Wisconsin he founded his household and reared his domestic altar, remaining in the state about eight years. In 1866 he moved his family to Missouri and located in Linn county not far from St. Catharine. A few years later he moved to a farm some six miles north of Brookfield, where he passed the remainder of his life, dying on August 10, 1891. His wife died July 4, 1901. He was a valiant Union soldier during the Civil War, serving in a Wisconsin regiment, and showed his mettle on some of its bloodiest battlefields. He was in the Battle of Nashville, Tennessee, and a number of small engagements.
Clayton H. McCormick was brought to Missouri when he was but six years old, and grew to manhood in the locality of his present residence. He obtained all the scholastic training he ever got at Linn Center School, one of the humble but effective country institutions of learning which dot our country plentifully in all parts and form one of the great bulwarks for the protection of the republic under whose benign influence we live. In this neighborhood he has followed farm- ing from his youth, and during the last fifteen years has also been ex- tensively engaged in rearing and feeding cattle for the markets. By his industry, intelligence and progressiveness in the management of his business he has thriven in both lines of his enterprise, and made his way slowly but surely to comfort and consequence in the way of a worldly estate. His farm comprises 160 acres of land, which he has improved with good buildings and brought to a high state of pro- ductiveness, making it one of the most attractive and valuable rural homes in the township in which it is located.
On March 22, 1886, he was married to Miss Allie England, a daughter of George and Jane (Bradshaw) England, old settlers who moved into Linn county in 1867. Two children have been born in the McCormick household, only one of whom is living, a son named Claude Ernest, who still has his home with his parents. He was graduated
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from the Brookfield high school with second honors in 1909, and is now pursuing a course in civil engineering in the State University at Columbia. No family in the township stands higher in the regard of the whole people than this one, and all its members richly deserve the favor with which their neighbors and friends look upon them, for they are citizens of the most sterling type, and true to every interest of their time and locality.
ROBERT BARKLEY LAMBERT
One of the largest landholders of Linn county, and one of its most extensive and prosperous farmers and stock dealers, Robert B. Lambert, of Locust Creek township, occupies a prominent position among the people on account of the extent of his possessions and the magnitude of his business. But he is also prominent among them be- cause of his high character, public spirit, enterprise and progressive- ness in behalf of the improvement of his township and county and his energetic and effective services in promoting the general welfare of the section and its inhabitants in every way.
Although not a native of Linn county or Missouri, Mr. Lambert has lived in the county ever since he was three years old, and has no recollection of any other home. He was born in Washington county, Ohio, on September 29, 1862, and is a son of Barkley and Asenath (Edgerton) Lambert, also natives of Ohio. The father's life began in Belmont county, Ohio, on November 4, 1822, and he was reared and educated there. After reaching manhood he engaged in farming and merchandising in his native state until 1865, when he came to Missouri and established a residence in Sullivan county. Four years later he moved to another farm about six miles north of Brookfield, where he remained until his death. All the years of his mature life were passed in general farming, and wherever he lived he manifested a cordial in- terest in the good and progress of his community. Before he left Ohio he served in the Home Guards during the closing year of the Civil War. His parents were Abner and Elizabeth Lambert.
Robert B. Lambert was, as has been stated, but three years old when his parents moved to Linn county, and here he grew to manhood and obtained his education. All his social training was acquired by association with the people of the county, and all his business enter- prises have been conducted in their midst. He is therefore altogether a Missourian in everything but birth, and as loyal in his devotion to
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the well being of his adopted state as he ever could have been to that of the state of his nativity.
Mr. Lambert has been continuously engaged in farming from his youth. He has conducted his operations with energy and skill, and has made them pay excellent returns for the intelligence and labor he has applied to them, and as he has prospered has steadily enlarged them. He now owns and cultivates 927 acres of land, all lying north of Brookfield. One body of the farm includes all of Section 11, the west half of the northeast quarter of Section 14, the northwest quarter of Section 12, and fifty acres off of the west side of the west half of the northeast quarter of Section 12, all in township 58, Range 20, and the rest is in other tracts.
During the last twenty-seven years Mr. Lambert has also been actively and profitably engaged in buying, rearing and shipping cattle. He began with one carload the first year, and gradually enlarged his live stock business until he now averages about twenty carloads an- nually, and during the last five years he has fed on an average 250 head a year. This is extensive dealing, but he manages it with ease, so complete is his system of operating and so comprehensive and masterly is his business capacity.
He was married on December 21, 1881, to Miss Mary Louisa Case. They have had eight children, five of whom are living: Lillie May, who is still at home with her parents; Roy J., who resides on his own farm of 208 acres one mile and three-quarters west of Brookfield; Ernest Oliver, aged eighteen, who is also still at home, as are Floyd Earl, aged sixteen, and Gladys Viola. The oldest son, Roy J., was married on February 13, 1910, to Miss Mary J. Booth, a native of Missouri, and at the time of her marriage living in Brookfield, Linn county, Missouri.
For a continuous period of forty-six years Mr. Lambert has lived, boy and man, in Linn county, and during considerably more than half of the time has been a large factor in its industrial strength and com- mercial power and influence. He has taken an active and serviceable interest in its public affairs, although he is not an active partisan politically, and has been also a potential factor in the work of develop- ing its resources and improving the condition of its people. His efforts in aiding every worthy undertaking for the benefit of the county have not been half-hearted or niggardly, but energetic, earnest and full of effectiveness. But he has wrought in this behalf with judg- ment and intelligence, and all his force has been directed along lines of wholesome progress and enduring good. He can always be de-
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pended on to give wise counsel, and also energetic action, when the enterprise proposed meets with his approval, and to point out the weakness and unworthiness of any that do not. Linn county has no better or more helpful citizen, and none whom the people hold in higher esteem for elevation of character, uprightness of life, sturdiness of citizenship and all the other traits of sterling American manhood.
The parents are members of Methodist Church South.
WILLIAM JEFFERSON BAKER
In conducting the operations of his fine farm of 177 acres in Brookfield township and carrying on his extensive business in buying and shipping live stock, William J. Baker finds plenty to occupy his time and attention and satisfy all his desires in the way of employ- ment. He gives the public affairs of the township and county all the consideration and service good citizenship requires, but he has never had any aspirations for public office, and has preferred at all times leaving the administration of the government, local, state and national, to persons desiring to have control of it, and whose training and attain- ments turned them in that direction.
Mr. Baker was born, reared and educated in Linn county. He has married two daughters of its early settlers, and he has passed the whole of his life to this time (1912) actively engaged in two of its leading industries. He is therefore a fair representative of its sturdy and sterling citizenship, and of the reliable factors which make up the sum of its producers and have wrought out its great progress, develop- ment and industrial and commercial strength. His life began on May 5, 1858, near North Salem, and he is a son of George and Isabel (McCollum) Baker, the former a native of Brown county, Indiana, and the latter of Linn county, Missouri.
The father was born on July 1, 1837, not far from the city of Morgantown, in the Hoosier state, and throughout all the years of his activity, except during the Civil War, was industriously engaged in farming. In the terrific sectional strife which came near rending our country assunder, he shouldered his musket and valiantly bore his part in the contest in defense of his political convictions, enlisting in the Twenty-fifth Missouri Infantry and remaining in the service four full years.
He first came to Linn county in 1849 and located on a farm in this county near North Salem. After the war he returned to that farm,
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and until recently gave his whole attention to its cultivation and improvement. He is now living in Brookfield retired from active pursuits. He has always manifested an earnest interest in the welfare of the county and taken an active and serviceable part in promoting its progress and improvement. In politics he is a pronounced Repub- lican, and always zealous and energetic in the service of his party, but never with a view to securing any office for himself, even in his days of greatest activity and effectiveness.
Stephen McCollum, Mr. Baker's grandfather on his mother's side, was one of the pioneers of Linn county, and lived northeast of St. Catharine, where he owned about 400 acres of land. During the Civil War he warmly espoused the cause of the Southern Confederacy and gave two of his sons to its armies to fight in defense of what he be- lieved in. He was a devoted admirer of Jefferson Davis, and made it a point to have as many as possible of his grand children named in honor of that distinguished but unfortunate statesman and leader of a cause that was doomed to defeat at its very start.
William J. Baker, as has been stated, was reared and educated in this county, and has been continuously engaged in farming from the time when he left school. For about fifteen years he also carried on an extensive business in breeding and feeding cattle for the markets, and during the last three has given his attention largely to buying and shipping live stock in general. He has always given close attention to political matters in the county, but only with a view to securing the best results for the benefit of the people, and with no reference to his own prominence, special personal advantage, or selec- tion for official station of any kind, for this he has never desired. He has also been strong in his support of all commendable projects de- signed to promote the progress and improvement of the county, the development of its resources, or the mental, moral or material welfare of its people in any way.
On December 25, 1882, Mr. Baker was married to Miss Margaret Fosher, a daughter of Harrison and Margaret (Hays) Fosher, old settlers of Linn county. Six children were born of the union, all of whom are living. They are: Curtis C., who resides on a farm near Brookfield; Daisy A., who is the wife of T. D. Robinson, of Kosh- konong, Oregon county, in this state; Roy E., who also lives on a farm near Brookfield; and Fred E., Nellie and William H., who are still living at home with their father.
The mother of these children died on April 21, 1895, and on November 9, 1898, the father contracted a second marriage, uniting
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himself on this occasion with Miss Nora M. Bunch, a daughter of David S. and Binda (Cook) Bunch, also esteemed old-timers of this county. By this second marriage Mr. Baker has become the father of five children: Josie Alethea, Hazel Irene, Leona May, Martin Jeffer- son and Ralph. They also are all living and still members of the par- ental family circle, doing their full share of the work of the farm and household, and adding largely to the attractiveness of the home as a social ,center and popular resort.
ROBERT W. DAVIS
(Deceased)
For nearly three score and ten years of his life this veteran of the Civil War and prominent real estate dealer and insurance agent of Brookfield had a varied and interesting experience. He had been active in the pursuits of peaceful industry, greatly to his own advan- tage and the benefit of the various communities in which his activities had been exerted, and he boldly faced death on some of the bloody battlefields of our sectional strife, in which high principles of govern- ment and human freedom were involved. In every line of endeavor he bore himself with credit as a man of independence, self-reliance and resourcefulness, and in all done well.
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