USA > Missouri > Linn County > Compendium of history and biography of Linn County, Missouri > Part 53
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In the veins of Charles L. Selleck, one of the prosperous and prominent farmers and stock feeders of Parsons creek township, Linn county, the blood of New England mingles with that of Kentucky, and in his career he has exhibited the serviceable and commendable traits of the people of both sections. Although modest and retiring in his disposition, and seeks no opportunities for self-assertion, he is sturdy, steady and sterling in his manhood and ardently patriotic in his citi- zenship, warmly devoted to local interests and earnestly solicitous for the enduring welfare of his whole country in every phase of its multi- form life and activity.
Mr. Selleck is a native of Adams county, Illinois, where his eyes opened to the scenes of this world on November 30, 1860. He is a son of Edward J. and Huldah J. (Robinson) Selleck, the former born in Vermont and the latter in Kentucky. The father, who has been a farmer all his life from his youth, except during a portion of the Civil War, was taken from his native state to Illinois by his parents in his
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childhood, some time in the forties. His father, Looman Selleck, was born and reared in Vermont, and during the first excitement over the discovery of gold in California, went to that state in search of a speedy fortune. He subsequently died in that state.
His son Edward was reared on the home farm in Adams county, Illinois, and farmed there until 1878, then came to Missouri and located in Chariton county. From there he moved soon afterward to Linn county, and a few years later moved back to Illinois. He is now living in Ralls county in this state. The mother died in 1873. They had five sons and two daughters, all of whom are now deceased but their son Charles and his sister Rosa E., who is the wife of Henry Adams, and lives in Arkansas. The father married a Miss Thorp for his second wife, and by this union became the parent of eight more children, all of them sons. For six months during the Civil War he served in the Seventy-fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, but took part in no actual hostilities, and at the end of the period mentioned was discharged on account of disabilities.
Charles L. Selleck lived to the age of seventeen years in Illinois, then came with the rest of the family to Chariton county, in this state. There he completed his education and for a number of years afterward assisted his father on the home farm. In 1883 he came to Linn county, and for a time farmed land which he rented. In 1900 he bought the farm he now owns and cultivates, which he has greatly improved and raised in value and attractiveness, making it one of the choice country homes of his township, and one of high rank among all there are in the county.
On February 6, 1878, Mr. Selleck was united in wedlock with Miss Mary J. Rosier, a daughter of John Rosier, who came to this county from Illinois in 1881, but moved to that state in his early manhood from Maryland. He died in Linn county in 1884, aged eighty-four years. Mr. and Mrs. Selleck have had two children, one of whom has died and the other, their son Harry, is living at home with his parents.
Mr. Selleck has followed general farming from the dawn of his manhood, and for a number of years has also engaged extensively in feeding live stock for the markets. In political relations he is a Demo- crat, and as such has served as a member of the township board. Fra- ternally he belongs to the Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of the Maccabees and the Modern Woodmen of America. He is well and favorably known in all parts of Linn and Chariton counties and highly esteemed in both.
JEROME C. POST
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JEROME C. POST
The memory of this pioneer merchant and energetic promoter of improvements in Brookfield is enshrined in the hearts of the people of Linn county, among whom he lived and was in business twenty-seven years, and to whom he gave a fine example of sterling and upright man- liness and commanding business enterprise, as well as great public spirit in developing the village of Brookfield, as it was when he became a resident of it, to the dignity and consequence of a city of considerable commercial influence, importance and celebrity throughout the state of Missouri.
Mr. Post was born in the village of Gwinsburg, near Cleveland, Ohio, on March 4, 1838, and was the son and only child of Simon and Lydia (Markle) Post, who died within a few weeks of each other and left him an orphan when he was but eighteen months old. He was adopted by his uncle, Charles Post, with whom he lived until the latter's death, when the nephew was thrown on his own resources at the early age of eight years. The boy was resolute and self-reliant, and at once began to make his living by doing chores for a neighboring family, and by this means he maintained himself until he reached the age of seventeen.
He was living at the time near Findlay, Ohio, and in 1853 was apprenticed to learn the tinner's and brazier's trade in that city. Prior to this he had secured a fair common school education supplemented by a course in the Findlay Academy. He mastered his trade in three years, then went to Cincinnati, where he worked as a journeyman until 1858. From Cincinnati he went to Charleston, in what is now West Virginia, and worked there until the spring of 1859. At that time he returned to Findlay, where he remained until the spring of 1860.
By this time he felt a longing for the farther West and moved to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, where he remained four years in all. But after a short stay in that place he went to Cleveland, and in that city in 1862 was married to Miss Julia P. Hollister, a native of Jonesville, Saratoga county, New York. He then returned to Fond du Lac, and in the summer of 1865 came to Brookfield. Soon after his arrival in that city he bought a small business establishment and went to work. His line of commodities included tinware, hardware, stoves and kindred articles of merchandise, and by industry, enterprise and good manage- ment of a high order gradually built up a large and flourishing trade.
When his business outgrew its accommodations he bought a busi- ness block and moved into that, where, in the course of a few years he
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had the leading hardware establishment in the city. In 1871 this block was destroyed by fire, and Mr. Post then built the fine block now occu- pied by the James Jewelry Company. He retired from business in 1892, selling his plant and good will to his son, Marvin C. Post, a sketch of whom will be found in this work. When the father retired he went to California and resided at Pomona, California, where he passed the remainder of his life and died on November 3, 1896, at the age of fifty-eight years.
Mr. Post was a Freemason, and a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He and his wife were the parents of eight children, four of whom are living: Minnie, who is now the wife of Jno. D. Howe, of Brookfield; Marvin C., who is now conducting the business he pur- chased of his father, and which he has expanded to greater proportions than it had when he acquired it; Louie, who is the wife of Frank Arnold of Brookfield; and Kate, who is the wife of George Howard of Walla Walla, Washington.
Mrs. Post, the mother of these children, is a daughter of Ephraim Hollister, a pioneer in Ohio, who was captain of a company in the Union army during the Civil war, and lost his life in that renowned and sanguinary conflict. She is still living at the age of seventy years, bút so hale, vigorous and active, that she gives her personal attention to all her large property interests. Carrying out the spirit of improve- ment shown by her husband, she has erected five modern dwellings in Brookfield within the last few years. She is one of the most highly esteemed matrons in the county, and is well worthy of all the regard bestowed upon her.
JONATHAN BURDALL
For years a stationary engineer, and connected with prominent manufactories while engaged in that occupation, then a farmer for almost a quarter of a century, and now one of the leading merchants of Brookfield, Jonathan Burdall has had an extended and varied experi- ence in usefulness and self-development, and the manner in which he manages his business at present shows that he has profited by the les- sons of life as they have come to him, and used them all for his benefit.
Mr. Burdall was born in Lincolnshire, England, on August 21, 1840, and is a son of John and Elizabeth (Chantrey) Burdall, also natives of that country. The father was a watchmaker and machinist, and came to the United States with his family in 1850. He first located himself and his family in Utica, New York, and there he remained four years.
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At the end of that period he moved to Syracuse in the same state, and some little time afterward to Zanesville, Ohio. During the Civil War he enlisted in 1863 in an Ohio regiment of volunteer infantry. But mil- itary service proved too severe for him, and he died in a hospital in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1864. The mother died in Chicago in 1886.
Of the four sons and two daughters born of their union only three of the sons are living. The grandfather of these children, William Burdall, died in England, where the family had lived for many genera- tions, in 1848. He was a good representative of the honest and indus- trious yoemanry of England, and both his son and his grandson, the interesting subject of this brief memoir, have exemplified in their daily lives of usefulness and fidelity to duty many of the best traits of Ameri- can citizenship.
Jonathan Burdall was but ten years of age when the family came to this country. He attained his manhood in the state of New York, and in its schools completed the education he had begun in those of his native land. When he left school he began working for himself as a stationary engineer, and after acquiring a thorough knowledge of the work, moved to Saginaw, Michigan, in 1862, and there operated and managed the first steam salt works, the manufacture of salt being a leading industry in the region to which he gave new impulse, improved methods and commanding success.
In 1865 he changed his residence to Chicago and there operated an engine until 1867, when he moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where he remained until 1870. In that year he came to Brookfield, and soon afterward took up his residence on a farm in Grantsville township, on which he lived and labored prosperously for nearly twenty-three years. In 1892 he again located in Brookfield and turned his attention to mer- chandising. In 1899 he started the coal business which he is still con- ducting. He has managed his business with intelligence and care, and has risen to a righ rank in mercantile circles in this part of the state.
Mr. Burdall was married in 1859 to Miss Helen D. Greer, a native of New York state. They have six children living: William J., who resides in Chicago; Helen D., who is now the wife of J. H. Shafer, of St. Joseph, Missouri; John S., whose home is at Pingree, Idaho; Jennie, who is the wife of Matthew Penhole, of the state of Washington; Lena, who is the wife of J. F. Hunter and also a resident of Washington; and Harry G., who was a resident of Topeka, Kansas, and has since died November 19, 1911. All the members of the family belong to the Baptist church, and all, in their several localities, are regarded with esteem because of
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the uprightness of their lives and the progressive and elevated character of their citizenship.
FREDERICK W. GOULD
Born and reared on a farm and himself a farmer from his youth, the life story of Frederick W. Gould, one of the prominent farmers of Jefferson township, in this county, presents few spectacular features and has but little of what is thrilling in incident and adventure in its make-up. He has, however, lived in various places and mingled with people working under widely differing conditions, and in this way has had variety in his experience which has been of great value to him in teaching him knowledge of himself and of his fellow men.
Mr. Gould was born near Toronto, Canada, on December 1, 1852, and moved with his parents, first across the line into the state of New York, and then by gradual stages westward until they finally located in Linn county. He is a son of James and Mary (Matthews) Gould, natives of Somersetshire, England, where the father's life began in 1817 and the mother's in 1821. They were married in that part of England in 1850, and in the same year emigrated to Canada, where they lived nine years.
In 1859 they moved to-Niagara county, New York, where the father farmed until 1865. He then changed his residence to Hillsdale, Michi- gan, and there the family lived until 1879. In that year all its members took another flight in the direction of the setting sun, and came to Mis- souri, locating in Livingston county. After a residence of six years in that county they moved to Linn county, and here, in 1885, the father bought a farm of 102 acres, the greater part of which is now within the corporate limits of the town of Laclede. On this farm the father died in 1904. The mother is still living, aged ninety, but even at that age full of animation and energy, and sound and vigorous in body.
The father was married twice, his first union being with a Miss Carp. By his marriage with that lady he became the father of four children, two of whom are living, one in Laclede, this county, and one in California. The fruits of his second marriage were six children, four of whom are living: Frederick W., the immediate subject of this sketch; Emma, who remains at home and cares for her mother; Agnes K., who is the wife of Edgar Van Fleet and resides in Hillsdale, Michi- gan, and Everett E. The mother belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church, of which the father was also a devout member in his lifetime.
Their son Frederick grew to the age of seven years in Canada, to
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that of thirteen in Niagara county, New York, and to that of twenty- seven in Hillsdale county, Michigan. He was thirty-three when he became a resident of Linn county, and has lived here twenty-seven years. He has never been engaged in any other occupation than farm- ing, but he has made a success of that, both in the quality of his work and the profits he has secured in it. He is progressive and enterprising, studies his land and the advances in the science of agriculture, and uses excellent judgment based on intelligence in all his operations on the farm.
In political faith and allegiance he adheres to the Republican party and in a quiet and unostentatious way works for its success in all cam- paigns. But he has never sought or desired a public office of any kind, although, for the good of the community, he has filled some in the town- ship in which he lives. But his interest in the welfare of his locality and its people is constant and practical, and finds expression in the support he gives all matters of public improvement. He has never married.
MOSES B. HARTER
The interesting subject of this brief memoir was brought to Mis- souri and Linn county at an early period of its history and when he was himself a boy but seven years old. Since then he has had a some- what adventurous career, living and working in a number of different localities and employed in several different pursuits. He has also con- tributed directly and substantially to the growth and development of this county and given considerable aid to the expansion of some of its industries.
Mr. Harter was born in Harrison county, Virginia, now West Vir- ginia, on August 2, 1860, a son of Charles P. and Margaret (Utterback) Harter, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Virginia. The father was a merchant and hotelkeeper in West Virginia until 1867, when he moved his family to this county. He located in Laclede and was for some time engaged in the meat business there, then turned his attention to farming, which he still follows. During the Civil War he served in the Union army in the West Virginia Volunteer Infantry, and after the close of the sectional strife returned to his West Virginia home and former occupations.
He was married in West Virginia some years before the war, and he and his wife became the parents of seven sons and two daughters. Five of the sons and two of the daughters are living, and four of the
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seven reside in Linn county. Moses B., who was the second child of the family in the order of birth, grew from the age of seven years to manhood in this county and obtained his education in the schools of Laclede. He began life as a farmer here, but soon afterward went to Prescott, Arizona, where he engaged in silver mining for one year. He then returned to Missouri and passed the next three years in the south- ern part of the state training horses for speed, especially as trotters.
At the end of the last period mentioned he came back to Linn county, and here he has ever since resided, having lived on the farm he now owns and occupies nineteen years. The farm comprises 160 acres and is devoted to farming in a general way. But Mr. Harter makes a specialty of breeding horses and jacks for the market. The strains he breeds in horses are pedigreed trotters and registered Per- cherons and Belgians for draft purposes. He has been very successful in the business and the output of his stables has a high rank in the marts of trade and throughout a wide extent of the country surround- ing Linn county.
Mr. Harter was first married on March 7, 1887, to Miss Elva O. Means, a daughter of Jacob and Margaret Means, who came to this county to live about 1870. Mr. and Mrs. Harter had two children: Their son Herbert C., who is a resident of the state of Iowa, and their daughter, who is now the wife of Harry Baylis, of Linn county. The mother died in 1891, and on September 22, 1907, the father contracted a second marriage in which he was united with Miss Eliza- beth Sensenich, a daughter of John and Harriet (Diller) Sensenich, who became residents of Linn county in 1878. No children have been born of Mr. Harter's second marriage.
In the public affairs of the township and county of his home Mr. Harter has taken a deep and serviceable interest, and has rendered the people excellent service as township trustee. He is a Republican in political faith and allegiance, a member of the Modern Woodmen of America in fraternal relations, and belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church in religious connection. The people of the county know him well and esteem him highly.
OSCAR H. PRATT
This enterprising and progressive farmer and highly esteemed citizen of Clay township, this county, has a very unusual record in this part of the country in the fact that he was born, reared and has passed the whole of his life to the present time (1912) on the farm on which
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he now lives. He therefore understands thoroughly the soil he is culti- vating, and the results of his farming show that he knows how to handle it wisely. He also knows his township and its people well, is familiar with their needs and aspirations, and with true public spirit and genuine interest in their welfare, he does his part as fully as he can in helping to provide for the best interests of the region and all that is connected with it.
Mr. Pratt's life began on June 22, 1868, and he is a son of Henry and Ibeline (Connelly) Pratt, the former a native of Tennessee and the latter of Kentucky. The father was born in 1825 and the mother in 1828. The father was reared to the age of nineteen in his native state, and in 1841 came from there to Missouri and Linn county in company with his brother, John M. Pratt, who was for many years a respected and influential citizen of this county, where his life ended in 1904.
Oscar H. Pratt's father, Henry Pratt, was a poor young man when he came to this state, bringing with him nothing in the way of capital but his stout heart, clear brain and ready hand, all guided by a resolute spirit and a self-reliant nature that made him ready for any require- ment or emergency. The first money he ever earned he was paid for splitting rails, and with this he purchased a hat. After his arrival in Linn county he worked on farms by the month, and in a few years accumulated enough to secure 200 acres of wild and unbroken land. He got this into a state of some fruitfulness, and then his profits began to increase at a more rapid rate and about 1855 he was able to purchase 191 acres of the farm his son now lives on. This was also wild land when he became possessed of it, but he improved it, and cultivated it with skill and vigor, making a good farm and a comfortable home of it, and living on it until his death, which occurred on June 30, 1891. The mother died on September 7, 1894.
They were the parents of eight children, of whom six are living: William, John, Arthur and Oscar, sons, and Alice and Emma, dauglı- ters. Alice is now the widow of Daniel Maynard, of Kansas City, and Emma is the wife of W. P. Thorne, of Linneus. The parents belonged to the Baptist church, which they joined in 1865. The father kept on buying land as fast as lie cold clear, break up and improve it, and at one time owned 701 acres.
The life story of Oscar H. Pratt presents no specially dramatic or showy features. It is that of a plain, industrious, thrifty and enter- prising farmer; a good citizen attentive to every duty required of him in regard to the civil, social and political life of his community; a faith- ful and capable official when called into the public service, and an
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upright, reputable, worthy and estimable man in every relation in life. As such he has won a strong hold on the confidence and esteem of the people all over Linn county.
Mr. Pratt was married on December 5, 1906, to Miss Alice E. Har- ris, a native of Nodaway county, Missouri, whose parents, George and Elizabeth (McPherrin) Harris, now live in Brookfield. One child has been born of the union, a son named Howard H. Mr. Pratt is a Demo- crat in political relations, and as such has served as township trustee, but serving with equal fidelity all of the people without regard to party considerations. Fraternally he is a member of the Order of Elks, and takes a cordial and helpful interest in the work of his lodge. He is in all respects an excellent citizen and a very useful man in his neigh- borhood.
EUGENE SIDEBOTTOM
Having come to Linn county as a boy of six almost at the dawn of authentic history in this region, and having lived in the county con- tinuously for a longer period than almost any other of its present resi- dents, Eugene Sidebottom, of Clay township, would be revered as a personage of interest by its people if he had no other title to their regard. But he has also been a constant and serviceable contributor to the progress and improvement of the county from his youth, and for many years a factor of moment in its industrial and commercial influ- ence and importance. He is a progressive, enterprising and prosperous farmer, a wide-awake and public-spirited citizen and a representative man in this part of Missouri.
Mr. Sidebottom was born in Mason county, Kentucky, on June 18, 1851. His parents, Robinson E. and Nancy (Burton) Sidebottom, were also natives of Kentucky, the former born in Green county and the latter in same state and county. The father's life began in 1809. He was reared in Green county and obtained his education in the primitive schools of his boyhood in a region then not far from the borders of civilization, if not actually on the frontier. He worked on his father's farm while growing to manhood, and after leaving school began farm- ing on his own account, and also assisted in a distillery owned and. operated by his father.
While yet young he became a convert to the Christian religion according to the creed of the Methodist Episcopal church, and soon afterward began preaching in its service, starting his work in the min- istry as early as 1832, when he was but twenty-three years of age. He
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preached in Kentucky until 1857, when he moved his family to Mis- souri and located in Linn county on a farm between Linneus and Laclede, which he occupied for four years. The family made the trip from Kentucky by boat, down the Ohio and up the Mississippi and Missouri to Brunswick, Chariton county. There the weary voyagers disembarked, and the rest of their journey was made overland with teams, and it was wearying, too, although not a great distance.
The father at once began preaching, in connection with his farm- ing operations, in the course of a short time holding meetings in all parts of the county. He continued his church work almost to the time of his death, which occurred in 1879, and built the Methodist Episcopal church in Laclede and others at different places. He married many of the older persons in the county and preached a great many funeral ser- mons, being always ready to respond to any call to duty, and always faithful in the performance of any task he undertook, however great the inconvenience or discomfort to himself.
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