USA > Missouri > Linn County > Compendium of history and biography of Linn County, Missouri > Part 54
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In 1862 he bought the farm on which his son Eugene now lives, which was a partly improved tract of prairie when he purchased it, and which he broke up and improved with comfortable buildings, good fences and other requirements. He passed the remainder of his days on this farm looking after its cultivation and further development. His widow survived him twenty years, passing away in 1899. They were the parents of ten children, seven sons and three daughters. Six of the ten are living, three of them in this county, and all esteemed as among its most worthy citizens.
The grandfather, William Sidebottom, was born in Virginia and in his young manhood became a pioneer in Kentucky. He was a planter and distiller, carrying on both industries for many years, but in the latter part of his life closing his distillery and destroying his still. In the Revolutionary War he fought under General Washington and won his approval, earlier members of the family having come to this coun- try from Wales prior to that event and became extensive planters in the Old Dominion while it was still under the domination of the British crown.
Eugene Sidebottom was reared from the age of six to manhood in this county and obtained his education in its schools of the period of his boyhood, which were not unlike those attended by his father in Kentucky. As soon as he was able he began assisting in the work of the farm which required every available hand and all the force the family could command for its cultivation and development. He has lived on it ever since, and in its present high state of improvement and
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productiveness it represents the work of two generations of the same family, or three, in fact, for his sons aided him in farming it during their minority as he did his father during the life of that gentleman in this part of the country.
Mr. Sidebottom was married in Linn county on March 14, 1880, to Miss Alma M. Hardy, a daughter of Moses D. Hardy, who came to this county in 1865. Of the eight children born of the union six are living: Jay D., who resides in Colorado; Edwin E., who has his home in Mon- tana; Mark E., who lives in Texas; Alvin H., also a resident of Colo- rado; Ruth B., who is a teacher in the Commercial college at Cameron, Missouri, and Lissa May, who is still a member of the parental house- hold, but is now pursuing a special course of instruction in music in Indianapolis, Indiana. The father is a Republican in politics, but he has never been an active partisan and has never held or desired a pub- lic office. Both parents are devout members of the Methodist Episcopal church in Meadville. Mr. Sidebottom's father and mother and his maternal grandmother, Jane Burton, were buried in Linn county at the time of their demise. In all parts of the county he is held in the high- est esteem for his genuine worth and elevated citizenship.
EDMUND B. ALLEN
Born on a farm in Indiana, and when he was one year old taken by his parents from the locality of his birth and brought to Missouri; reared by them on a farm in this state the land of which was acquired from the government and was still virgin to the plow, never yet having heard the persuasive voice of the husbandman or felt the quickening and softening influence of his molding hand; then being chosen by the people of the county of his residence to serve them in an important official position, after passing a number of years as a grocer in active trade with the public, Edmund B. Allen, of Laclede, in this county, has had a varied experience, but the basis of it all has been connection with the soil and the interests of those who cultivate it.
Mr. Allen's life began in Daviess county, Indiana, on December 28, 1853, and he is a son of Rev. Calvin and Elvira (Crook) Allen, the former born near Paint Rock, Campbell county, Tennessee, on October 26, 1827, and the latter in Henry county, Indiana, in 1829. The history of their lives is briefly given on another page of this volume. Their son Edmund B., who is the only one of their offspring now living, came with them and the other members of the family to Grundy county, Mis- souri, in 1854, and to Laclede, in Linn county, in the fall of 1875.
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Before coming to this county he completed his education at the Kirks- ville State Normal School, which he attended in 1871 and 1872.
In 1876 he began an enterprise in the grocery and dry goods trade in partnership with J. N. Wilson, with which he was connected a num- ber of years. In 1894 he was elected sheriff of Linn county, and in March, 1906, was appointed internal revenue collector for this district with his office in St. Louis, and on March 1, 1910, he was reappointed to this position for a term of four years. He has performed the duties of the office in a way that has been entirely satisfactory to the govern- ment and also to the men and corporations affected by its operations, and his wisdom and capacity as a public official have been warmly commended by both.
Mr. Allen has been a zealous and effective worker in political affairs on the Republican side of the line from his youth, and served as chairman of the Linn county central committee of his party for ten years continuously. But while loyal to his party, in office and out, he has never allowed his party spirit to overbear or diminish his interest in the substantial and enduring welfare of his township and county, but has at all times taken an active part in promoting that and the comfort, convenience and general advancement of their residents.
Throughout all of the thirty-seven years of his residence in Linn county he has never allowed an undertaking of value for the better- ment of the region to go without his intelligent and serviceable support, and he has been at the origin of many good projects in this behalf. In connection with all such matters he has been as helpful through the wisdom of his counsel in reference to them as he has been energetic and productive in practical work. He sees clearly, he acts promptly, he employs all his resources in matters of public improvement, and his plans in reference to them always take in the whole situation. He is regarded in all parts of Linn county as one of Jefferson township's most useful, upright and representative citizens, and his record in pub- lic and private life fully sustains and justifies the high estimate placed on his worth by all classes of the people and universally approved.
JAMES GOODWINE
The most extensive farmer and live stock breeder and dealer in Linn county is James Goodwine, whose farm in Parsons creek township comprises 1,500 acres, and whose operations in live stock are commen- surate with his acreage. Carrying on his business at the magnitude it
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has, he is one of the most useful citizens in respect to the material inter- ests of the county, and one of the great public benefactors in this part of the state. He necessarily employs a large number of persons and thereby gives comfort, prosperity and happiness to numbers of homes and their inmates; and as his productions must be very considerable, he adds by them greatly to the industrial and commercial importance, influence and material wealth of the county.
Mr. Goodwine was born near the city of Danville in Vermilion county, Illinois, on May 19, 1851, and is a son of John W. and Jane (Charleton) Goodwine, the former a native of Indiana and the latter of Tennessee. The father farmed in his native state until 1848, when he moved to Vermilion county, Illinois, and there in a few years became a leader in farming and live stock operations, his business equaling in magnitude that of almost any other man in the state, if he did not sur- pass them all. He died in Illinois in 1909 after making a record of which any might justly be proud. He was married twice, and his second wife is still living.
Their son James was reared in his native county, and after com- pleting his education farmed 680 acres of the parental homestead for a number of years, devoting himself to general farming and raising live stock. He, therefore, had good training for his enterprise in this county before he began it. In 1906 he came to Linn county and bought the farm of 1,500 acres, which he now owns, lives on and cultivates. He is a wise and judicious farmer, as well as a very vigorous, indus- trious and enterprising one, always driving his business and never giving it a chance to drive him, and his returns are fully in keeping with the magnitude and character of his work and the skill of his man- agement of it. This is equally true of the live stock department of his great industry, and together they form two great currents, one of out- lay in effort and the other of income in results, that are striking in their volume and the steadiness of their constant and continually aug- menting flow.
Mr. Goodwine was married in January -, 1879, to Miss Minerva King, a native of New Jersey. She died on September 1, 1901, leaving five of her children to mourn their loss: Nellie, who is the wife of J. C. Newberry, and resides in Henning, Illinois; Roy, who is associated in business with his father; Harry, who also lives in Missouri; Marie, who has charge of her father's household; and Goldie, who is the wife of Frank Hoover, and has her home in Danville, Illinois.
It is not to be supposed that Mr. Goodwine is wholly absorbed in his own affairs. Extensive and exacting as his business is, he still finds
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time and energy to take an earnest and very practical interest in the affairs of his township and county, and labor effectively for the welfare of their residents. By the very nature of his mind and make-up he is progressive and always looking for the best and most considerable results. He applies this disposition to the improvement and further development of the locality in which he lives with the same energy and excellent judgment that impels it in connection with his private busi- ness, and this makes him one of the best citizens of the county, which everybody acknowledges him to be.
JOHN C. AILOR
Although a native of Tennessee and born in the eastern part of that state, seven hundred or eight hundred miles from his present resi- dence, John C. Ailor, one of the best known and most enterprising and successful farmers and live stock men in Parsons creek township, this county, is to all intents and purposes a Linn county man, as all that he is and all that he has achieved are Linn county products. He was but three years old when his parents brought him to this locality from his former Tennessee home, and his growth, mental and physical training, social culture, capacity and enterprise as a citizen have been acquired here.
Mr. Ailor's life began in eastern Tennessee in 1848, his parents, Luke and Edith( Wood) Ailor, being then residents of that part of our neighboring state. The father was a farmer and brought his family to Missouri in 1851, making the journey by means of an ox team, and consuming the greater part of two months in doing it. On his arrival in this county he first located east of Linneus on the Carroll farm, where he lived two years. He then bought the farm of 100 acres on which his son John C. now lives. The whole tract was covered with timber at the time, and he and his sons cleared it for farming and brought it to high productiveness by their continued and well applied industry.
The mother died on this farm in 1888 and the father in 1893. They were the parents of two sons and six daughters, all living but two of the daughters, four of the surviving six being residents of this county. The father was a renowned hunter, killing turkeys, deer and other game in great quantities for a number of years. When he settled on this farm there were only two houses for dwellings in this part of the county. He did his trading at Linneus and at Brunswick on the river, places
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near at hand and easy of access now, but then distant and difficult to get to by reason of the lack of roads, bridges and other facilities of travel.
John C. Ailor grew to manhood on the farm he now owns and occu- pies, in the clearing and breaking up of which he assisted, and aided in cultivating it until the death of his father, when he became the owner of it. He has ever since farmed it, and for a number of years has also been extensively engaged in raising live stock on it, breeding regis- tered horses of the Percheron strain, registered jacks and superior grades of hogs and cattle. He has made both his farming and his stock industry profitable by giving each careful attention and conducting them with intelligence and good judgment, always studying the needs of his business and applying the results of his study and observation judiciously.
Mr. Ailor is a Democrat in political relations, but he has never been an active partisan or sought or desired a political office, although he has served for a number of years on the school board. In religious affiliation he is connected with the Church of Christ. On October 6, 1877, he was united in marriage with Miss Bettie Martin, a daughter of Valentine and Vashti (Boone) Martin, both now deceased, who came to this county from Tennessee. Mr. and Mrs. Ailor have six children living: Dora, who is the wife of Charles Goodwin and resides in this county; Charles, whose home is in Oregon; Earl, who is also a resident of Linn county; and Adelbert, Jessie and Mark, who are still living at home with their parents. The father is a public-spirited and progres- sive man with reference to the affairs of his township and county, as he is in connection with his own, and is widely known as a very enter- prising and useful citizen. The people of the whole county esteem him for his genuine worth and elevated manhood.
WILLIAM A. BALCOM
Born on a farm in the state of New York, reared from the age of five years on another in Wisconsin, a Union soldier during a portion of the Civil War, and since 1866 a farmer in Linn county, William A. Balcom, of Jefferson township, has been useful in many places and in different capacities, and in each has proven himself worthy of esteem because of his fidelity to duty and his ability in performing it. His life has been varied in location and calling, but he has always been the
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY
same straightforward, upright and industrious man, whatever his sur- roundings were.
Mr. Balcom is one of the fast fading body of hardy pioneers who laid the foundations of Linn county's civil, educational and religious institutions, and started it on its interesting career of progress. He has lived long among this people, and been permitted to witness and ¡enjoy the fruits of the early labors of his companions and himself, who came to this part of the state when it was but little past its days of an almost untrodden domain, and the people revere him as one of the county's real founders, subsequent builders and present patriarchs.
His life began in Wayne county, New York, July 13, 1837, and he is a son of Jesse and Martha (Reed) Balcom, the former a native of Connecticut and the latter of the state of New York. The father was a mason and farmer. He lived in New York state until 1843, then moved his family to Walworth county, Wisconsin, where he cleared a tract of eighty acres of wild land near Lake Geneva and transformed it into a good farm. Both parents died in Wisconsin. They had five children, three of whom are living, William being the only one residing in Missouri. The grandfather, John Balcom, was a manufacturer and farmer. He died in New York.
William A. Balcom was but five years old when his parents moved from New York to Wisconsin. He grew to manhood on the Walworth county farm, which he helped to clear and improve, and obtained a common school education in the neighborhood. His life was unevent- ful until 1864, when he enlisted in the Union army in the Forty-ninth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, then it assumed something of a tragic nature. He served until the close of the war, but saw no actual hos- tilities, being assigned during his whole connection with the army to detail duty in St. Louis.
When the war's ruffled plumes were smoothed and the battle flags were furled, he returned to his Wisconsin home, and in 1866 came to Missouri and Linn county. He located in Jefferson township, where he is still engaged in farming on a farm he has occupied ten years. He helped to clear two others and finally bought this one as a permanent residence. He has cultivated it with intelligence and vigor, and it shows in its every phase and feature the marks of skillful husbandry.
Mr. Balcom has been married three times. His first union was with Miss Elizabeth Kady, and was solemnized in this state in 1867. She died in 1869, and he was united in his second marriage, with Miss Laura B. Brunemer, in 1871. She passed away in 1879, leaving one daughter, who is now Mrs. May Duroche and lives in Rosedale, Kansas.
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The third marriage took place in 1882 and joined him with Miss Nan- nie E. Clough, a native of Missouri and daughter of Elbridge and Lettie (Sensintaffaer) Clough, long esteemed residents of this county. . They have two sons living, Russel L. and Harold C. The mother is still living also. The father is a Republican in politics and a member of the Grand Army of the Republic fraternally. He is an admirable type of the sturdy pioneer, a man of high character, and is everywhere held in the most cordial and admiring esteem.
CLELLEN G. BIGGER
Having filled the office of county surveyor of Linn county for a con- tinuous period of twenty-seven years, and since leaving it having still been engaged in surveying in many parts of the county, and having filled a number of county and township offices at different times in his long career of usefulness to his people, Clellen G. Bigger of Marceline township is probably the best known and most extensively acquainted man in the county. He has carried his compass and surveyor's chain all over it and become familiar with and known to the people in every section by mingling freely and frequently with them. Wherever he is known he is highly esteemed as a sterling man and useful citizen, and one whom the residents of the county would hardly know how to do without.
Mr. Bigger is a native of Marion county, Kentucky, where his life began on October 22, 1837. His parents, Harrison E. and Keziah (Crews) Bigger, were natives of Virginia. The father was born in February 3, 1813, in that state and was taken to Kentucky by his par- ents in his childhood. After reaching man's estate he became a farmer and continued his labors as such to the end of his life. He moved to Missouri in 1844 and located in Linn county, taking up his residence at first in the western part and afterward removing to a tract of 160 acres of wild land four miles south of Linneus. He cleared this piece of land and transformed it into a farm of considerable value, then moved to another adjoining it, on which he died on May 10, 1886. The mother died in 1852, and the father married twice after her death, los- ing his second wife also by an untimely demise long before her period of usefulness was ended.
By his first marriage, which was with the mother of Clellen G. Bigger, he became the father of two sons and three daughters who grew to maturity. Clellen G. and one of his brothers are the only members
CLELLEN G. BIGGER
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY
of the family now living. Another brother of the subject of this brief review was a soldier in the Federal army during the Civil war before he reached the age of manhood and died of the measles at Macon, Missouri, October 14, 1862, while in the service. He belonged to Com- pany I, Twenty-third Missouri Volunteer Infantry, and saw consid- erable field duty while his life lasted.
By one of his subsequent marriages the father begot three sons and one daughter. Of these four children three are living. His father, William Bigger, the grandfather of Clellen G., was born and reared in England. When he came to this country soon after the Revolution he located in Virginia, and when the war of 1812 was in progress he raised a regiment for the defense of his adopted country against the aggres- sion of the land of his nativity. The war was of short duration and his regiment was never called into active service, but was ready for the call at any time. From Virginia the grandfather moved to Kentucky, where he died. He was a civil engineer by profession and found plenty of professional work to do, in the unimproved state of that part of the country in which he lived.
Clellen G. Bigger was reared and educated in this county, attending first the district schools and afterward a school of more advanced grade in Linneus. He taught school for a number of years, and also began the study of medicine in the office and under the direction of Dr. Powers of Linneus. But destiny had marked him for other duties than the practice of medicine, and when its call came he obeyed it without hesitation or reluctance. In 1861 he was appointed county surveyor to succeed Jacob Holland, who resigned the office after holding it a short time.
This appointment changed all the plans Mr. Bigger had formed for himself. He filled the office of county surveyor for twenty-seven years in succession, and since giving it up has continued his work as a sur- veyor. In 1861, during August and September, he was a member of the Provisional State Militia. He also served four years as president of the county court, as county assessor in 1866, and as deputy sheriff and tax collector for two years, while from time to time other township or county offices had the benefit of his wisdom, intelligence and ability as their incumbent.
In politics he is a pronounced Republican. In fraternal relations he is connected with the Masonic order. In local public affairs he has long been one of the forceful and energetic agencies for good, aiding in the promotion of the enduring welfare of his township and county by every means at his command, and as a farmer, in spite of his other
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY
engagements, numerous and exacting as they have been, he is in the front rank. He located on his present farm in Marceline township in 1872, and it has been his home ever since.
So accurate has been Mr. Bigger's work as a surveyor that it has brought him a high and wide-spread reputation. During the construc- tion of the Santa Fe Railroad he was called upon to measure forty miles of it to settle a dispute between the company and some of the con- tractors who were building the road. He was married on August 24, 1870, to Miss Leah J. Powers, a daughter of Dr. J. F. and Isabella M. (Brownlee) Powers of Linneus. Nine children have been born to the union : Guy W .; Mabel, who is now the wife of Samuel N. Roseberry of Bucklin ; Edward M .; Ida, who is living at home; Ray F .; Charles ; and Eva, Harry and Lucile, all of whom are still under the parental roof- tree. No citizen of Linn county stands higher in the regard of the people than Mr. Bigger, and none deserves to.
WILLIAM R. FRAKES
A pioneer of Linn county and one of the best farmers in Jefferson township, William R. Frakes has two strong titles to local distinction and public regard, and they are bestowed on him by the people of the county in liberal measure. He is modest, however, and claims no spe- cial consideration for himself, even though he has himself been the architect and builder of his career, and was also, during the Civil War, something of a martyr to the sectional strife that so woefully devas- tated portions of our country and recovered from his losses then sus- tained by his own efforts.
Mr. Frakes was born in Perry county, Indiana, on Christmas day, 1844. His parents, John D. and Nancy (Brown) Frakes, were born in Kentucky, the former in Nelson county, in 1811, and the latter in Meade county, in 1818. The father was reared and educated in his native state, and soon after attaining his manhood moved to Indiana. In 1857 he moved his family to Missouri, and located in Laclede. In 1861 he bought a farm in Jefferson township, all prairie land, on which he erected one of the first dwellings built in that locality, and on that farm he passed the rest of his life and died on February 7, 1874. The mother died on January 10, 1895. They had six children, five of whom grew to maturity. All are now deceased but William and his sister, Mrs. Elvira Moore, who resides in Kansas City, Kansas.
In June, 1861, the father enlisted in the Union army in Company
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A, Eighteenth Missouri Volunteer Infantry, but at the end of eighteen months he was discharged on account of disability incurred in the serv- ice. He was first a Whig and later a Republican in politics. The paternal grandfather, John Frakes, of Scotch ancestry, was born in Kentucky and died in Indiana, well advanced in years and standing high in his community. He also was a farmer, as many of his fore- fathers were and all his male descendants have been, and those of them who are living still are.
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