USA > Missouri > Linn County > Compendium of history and biography of Linn County, Missouri > Part 57
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY
disaster at the battle of Winchester, Virginia, which began on July 13, 1863, and lasted three days. In this battle a Union force of about 4,000 under General Milroy was pitted against some 30,000 Confederates of General Early's corp, and most of it was forced to surrender after making all the resistance possible.
After this Mr. Loomis was made captain of one of the companies of the Thirtieth Connecticut Colored Regiment. He took part in the battle of Petersburg at the head of this company. He was fifth in rank at the beginning of the battle, all other officers were killed or disabled leaving him in command. Mr. Loomis was given command of the Thirtieth Connecticut Colored regiment and was in command of it ten months, when it consolidated with the Thirty-first United States Colored Troops. At regular monthly inspection he was com- plimented on being the best of the five regiments in the brigade.
He was honorably discharged from the service with the rank of captain in 1865.
In August, 1866, he came to this county and bought a tract of wild land in Clay township. He broke up and improved this land, and lived on it until 1871, when he moved to the farm on which he now resides in Parsons Creek township, and on which, also, he has made all the im- provements put on it. He was but twenty years of age when he was put in command of the colored regiment in the war.
On August 2, 1871, Mr. Loomis was married in Missouri to Miss Melissa B. Hardy, a daughter of Moses D. Hardy, one of the early set- tlers in Linn county, this state. He was a native of Maine but came to Linn county in 1865. Nine children have been born of the union and all of them are living. They are: Emma W., who is living at Ship- rock, New Mexico, a teacher in Indian school; Alma E., who is the wife of S. D. Evans and resides in Meadville; Lucius W., Edward A., Ida M., who is the wife of M. P. Benson of Laclede; Edith C., who is the wife of Ernest E. Benson of Laclede; and Ruth and Ralph, who are twins.
In addition to cultivating his farm Mr. Loomis is extensively engaged in raising sheep for the markets. He is always interested in the welfare and improvement of his township and county, and zealous in his efforts to promote their best interests in every way. But he does not take part in political contests, being independent of all party con- trol in his exercise of citizenship, and desiring nothing in the way of public office for himself. He and his wife are members of the Congre- gational church.
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY
SAVAGE & RANKIN
This enterprising, progressive and highly rated firm, which is one of the leaders in the real estate and loan business in this part of the state, and whose members are among the most prominent and influen- tial business men of Laclede, is conducting a business which was founded in 1895 on the site which it now occupies, and which has passed through several hands. It has always enjoyed a good name and pros- pered, but it has never been conducted on so high a plane, so large a scale, or with such general approval as the present proprietors have secured for it.
The business was started in 1895 by May Jones, who carried it on until 1901, when he took Mr. Allen in as a partner, and the firm name became Allen & Jones. In 1908, B. S. Rankin bought the interest of Mr. Allen in the business and the firm became Jones & Rankin. On June 1, 1911, William S. Savage bought Mr. Jones out and since then the firm name has been Savage & Rankin, and the business has ex- panded and spread out at a rapid rate. The members of the firm are known throughout a large extent of the country surrounding Laclede as strictly upright, square and reliable men, with full mastery of their undertaking and all that pertains to it, extensive and accurate knowl- edge of property, its value, possibilities and chances of improvement, and all that is necessary for its development to its highest usefulness and productiveness. They are recognized authorities on all matters connected with real estate transactions, and their judgment is relied on and followed by hosts of persons. This is a measure of popular esteem and confidence which they have won by their integrity in business matters, and their high tone and manhood as citizens and the people readily accord it to them because they are known to deserve it.
B. S. Rankin, the older member of the firm, was born in Fleming county, Kentucky, on July 17, 1855, and came to Missouri in 1880, locat- ing in Gentry county, where he remained fifteen years. He is a son and one of the six children of James and Kazer (Hormon) Rankin. The mother died on September 10, 1861, and the father in 1889.
Mr. Rankin, the subject of these paragraphs, obtained his educa- tion in the common schools of his native county, and began the battle of life for himself at an early age. In 1895 he moved from Gentry county to Linn county, taking up his residence in Jefferson township, where he was actively and profitably engaged in farming until 1908. He then formed a partnership with the late May Jones, and together
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY
they carried on the business in which he is now engaged until Mr. Savage succeeded Mr. Jones in the firm.
On December 25, 1879, Mr. Rankin was married to Miss Jennie Buckley, a daughter of William Buckley, a native of Indiana. Five children have been born of the union, all of whom are living: Daisy D., who is teaching school and resides at home with her parents; Wal- ter D., whose home is near Springfield, Missouri; and Rorie A., Rasco C. and Hazel, who are also still members of the parental family circle.
Not only because of the nature of his business, but also by reason of his general progressiveness and desire for the best results of prog- ress that can be secured for his township and county, Mr. Rankin is a very enterprising and public spirited man. He is an ardent and ener- getic supporter of everything that he believes will help to improve and benefit the locality in which he lives and promote the general welfare of its people. He is universally esteemed as one of the best and most useful citizens of his township and the equal of any man in the county in genuine merit.
ALEXANDER A. WELSH
For the full period of forty-six years a resident of Linn county, and during all of the time one of its progressive, successful and prosperous farmers, and also one of its most sturdy and substantial citizens, Alex- ander A. Welsh of Jefferson township has long been a valued contribu- tor to its progress and development, its industrial and commercial wealth and its sterling and elevated manhood. He has never been indifferent to its welfare or turned aside from any of its calls to duty, but has cheerfully given of his time and substance, mental and mate- rial, to aid in its improvement along wholesome lines of advancement.
Mr. Welsh hails from the village of Glencoe, Belmont county, Ohio, where he was born on February 23, 1840. His parents, John and Mary (Sheldon) Welsh, were natives of that county, too, and his grandfather, Crawford Welsh, of Scotch parentage, died there in 1862, aged eighty years. Mr. Welsh's father, John Welsh, was a farmer and one of the directors of the old Ohio Central Railroad. He also served as county judge of his native county, and was a man of local prominence there.
The mother died in the place of her birth on May 13, 1855, and in 1866 the father and his living children moved to Missouri. He located in Laclede, this county, where he bought the Bell Hotel and conducted it until his death on February 2, 1888. His second wife was Miss
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY
Sabina Simpson, who died in 1907. Ten children were born of the first marriage, six sons and four daughters. Three of the sons and one of the daughters are living and all reside in Linn county. The fruits of the second union were one son and one daughter. The sister is living and has her home in Missouri, thus all the living representatives of the family are in this state.
Alexander A. Welsh grew to manhood in Ohio and obtained a good common school education there. He farmed and taught school in that state until the spring of 1866, then accompanied his father and the rest of the family to this county. Soon after their arrival here he and his brother Asbury together bought a farm of 240 acres in Jefferson town- ship. The land was wholly unimproved and had never been cultivated. By the industry and skillful tillage of Mr. Welsh it has been developed into a model farm, well improved with good buildings and richly productive.
Through the stimulus of his example and wise farming other land around his farm has also been made fruitful in productiveness and attractive in the improvements that have been put on it. His influence on the farmers of the locality began early, for he is now one of the oldest settlers of the township as nearly all who preceded him have passed away. He has passed the limit of human life fixed by the Sacred writer, but is still vigorous and active, and his example and influence are still forceful, for he has kept pace with the progress of events and always been up to date.
Mr. Welsh was married in Ohio in 1867 to Miss Louisa M. Mc- Veigh, who was born and reared in Monroe county in that state. They have had four children, two of whom died in infancy. The two who are living are Albert D., a farmer in Jefferson township, and Cecil, who is also a Linn county agriculturist. Their mother is still living, venerable in years and in the uprightness and usefulness of her life, and revered. throughout the locality of her home by the people of every class and condition. In politics Mr. Welsh is a Republican, but he is not an active partisan, and has never sought or held a political office. All the members of the family support the Methodist Episcopal church.
ISAAC H. CLOUGH
The American pioneer, in all stages of our history has been a heroic figure, and his achievements have in most cases been remarkable, con- sidering the privations, hardships and dangers amid which they have been accomplished. And the hardy endurance with which those priva-
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY
tions and dangers have been borne, and the all-daring courage with which they have been faced are worthy of all commendation. The race of these heroes is a fast-fleeting one, and the last of its representatives will be soon beyond our contact. It is well, therefore, to preserve some record of their lives while we have opportunity, in the pages of endur- ing history.
Then, in the years to come, when the voice of song and story pro- claims our greatness, and admiring strangers wonder over our marvel- ous progress, and the glory of our civil, religious and educational insti- tutions, we can justify the praise and satisfy the wonder by saying: "See by whose hands the foundations of all this were laid, and what high examples were given to stimulate emulation in building as well as our forefathers founded!" The promoters of this work have peculiar pleasure, in this view of the case, in presenting to its readers a short account of the life of Isaac H. Clough, one of the heroic band that laid the foundations of civilization in this part of the country, and recording the deeds of the many others like him, whose life-stories will be found in this volume in various places.
Isaac H. Clough is one of the prominent, enterprising and pros- perous farmers of Jefferson township in this county, and he came from the far away Atlantic coast, as it was then, to locate here. Mr. Clough was born near Augusta, Maine, on November 28, 1837, in the same farm house that his father was born in, and perhaps his grandfather also. He is a son of Henry C. and Elizabeth D. (Tucker) Clough, also natives of that state, where the father was born on December 2, 1809. They were farmers in Maine, and prosperous according to their day and location. The mother died in 1892 and the father on January 8, 1894, the latter at the advanced age of eighty-five.
They were the parents of three sons and two daughters, all of whom are now deceased but their son Isaac and one of his brothers, who is still living in Maine. The paternal grandfather, James S. Clough, was also a native of Maine, born in 1780, and followed farming there until his death in 1865. He was a soldier in the War of 1812, and ren- dered his country good service in that contest with the mother country. By his marriage with Susanna Palmer he became the father of five sons and two daughters. The family is of Scotch ancestry and the progeni- tors of its American branch were pioneers in Maine, coming over in colonial days.
ยท Isaac H. Clough was reared to the age of eighteen in his native state. In 1855 he came west to Chicago and in that city worked at the carpenter trade for about fifteen months. On January 30, 1857, he
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY
arrived in this county, having made the journey by rail from Chicago to Palmyra, and from there by stage to Linneus. During the first year of his residence in Linn county he worked at his trade in and around Linneus, erecting many of the early dwellings in Linneus, Laclede and other parts of the county.
He was eager, however, to return to the occupation of his fore- fathers, and at the end of a year began renting land and farming, but also continued to work at his trade, for there was a great demand for his craftsmanship, the progress of the county having begun in earnest and there being a steady influx of immigrants who had to have homes. He continued to rent land until 1866, and in May of that year moved to the farm on which he now lives. This was all unbroken prairie when he bought it, but he has transformed it, by his well-applied industry, into a fine farm, in a high state of cultivation and well improved with good buildings.
Mr. Clough was married in 1858 to Miss Nancy Sensintaffar, a daughter of John Sensintaffar, who became a resident of Linn county in 1837. Seven children were born of this union, four of whom are liv- ing: Lucinda J., who is the wife of W. R. Sellars and resides in this county; Augusta M., who is living at home with her father; Jacob H., who is a Linn county farmer; and Ethel L., who married with S. D. Edwards and has her home in this county. The mother of these chil- dren died on October 12, 1910. The father and the other members of the family stand high in the county and are regarded as among its most sturdy, sterling and representative residents.
BENJAMIN F. GRIFFIN
(Deceased)
The late Benjamin F. Griffin of Jefferson township, who departed this life on September 19, 1909, was a well known farmer of Linn county, in which he passed nearly forty years of his life, having become a resident of it in 1870. He was seventy-six years of age when he died, and was universally revered as one of the patriarchs of the township in which he had so long lived and labored. Throughout that long record his life was an open book before this people, and there was not a stain on any of its pages, nor was there one which was not filled with a rec- ord of fidelity to duty and integrity and straightforwardness in all his dealings.
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY
Mr. Griffin was a Canadian by nativity, born in Hastings county, province of Ontario, on November 11, 1833. His parents were Stephen and Lyna (Hazelton) Griffin, who emigrated from New York and located in Ontario. He was reared on a farm and educated in the com- mon schools, and himself followed farming in his native land until 1859. In that year he moved to Knox county, Illinois, and there he farmed until 1870, when he came to Linn county, Missouri, and bought the farm of 100 acres on which he died, and which is still occupied by his widow.
In 1864 Mr. Griffin enlisted in Company H, Thirty-sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, in which he served until the close of the Civil War. His regiment was a part of the Army of the Cumberland, and took part in some of the hardest fighting of the war. Mr. Griffin was in the terrific battles of Franklin and Nashville, and also in many minor engagements, but he escaped without a wound and was never taken prisoner during the whole of his service in the army.
When he was released from military service Mr. Griffin returned to his home in Knox county, Illinois, where he remained, actively engaged in farming, until 1870. He then determined to gratify a longing he had felt for years to try his hand at farming in Missouri, and with this end in view he came to Linn county, and here he passed the remainder of his days, dying on September 19, 1909, as has been stated.
Prior to coming to this country, however, that is, on February 23, 1870, Mr. Griffin was united in marriage with Miss Sarah E. Hurlbutt, a daughter of Asa and Mary (Jones) Hurlbutt, of Knox county, Illinois. Three children were born of the union: Alice A., who is now deceased; Edith E., who married with S. W. Ours of Brookfield and resides in that city; and Irwin H., who is still living with his mother on the paren- tal homestead and managing its cultivation for her.
Mr. Griffin, the father, belonged to the Grand Army of the Repub- lic, and was a devout member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He was a wise and energetic farmer, a public spirited and progressive citi- zen and a sternly upright and straightforward man. The people around him respected him for his genuine worth and high character, and admired him for his general intelligence, enterprise in the management of his farm and the elevated manhood he exhibited in all the relations of life. His widow and children are also held in high esteem for the same sterling qualities that characterized him, and for many admirable traits of their own. They are widely known and in all parts of the county, are well thought of and enjoy a very agreeable popularity.
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY
HENRY EHRICH
Born, reared and educated in Prussia in the German empire, and there, too, trained in the handicraft of a tailor, Henry Ehrich, one of the well known farmers of Jefferson township in this county, turned from both his native land and his chosen occupation under the allure- ments of the open-handed bounty and freedom of opportunity offered by the rich farming lands of the Mississippi valley in this country. He came with the expectation of bettering his prospects and winning an estate, and he has not been disappointed in the realization of his hopes.
Mr. Ehrich's life began on Christmas day, 1855, amid the sturdy yoemanry of that historic land which, under the lead of Frederick the Great, astounded the world by withstanding the force of all Europe combined to crush it. He is a son of Christian and Christina (Traue) Ehrich, also natives of Germany. The father was a tailor and wrought faithfully at his trade until his death in 1883. The mother is still liv- ing. They were the parents of three sons and one daughter, and all of the children but one of the sons now reside in the United States.
The paternal grandfather, whose name was also Christian Ehrich, like his son and his grandson, was a tailor. But he was also a soldier in the Prussian army and fought in the wars of his country against Napoleon. In one of the great battles of those contests he was wounded, and soon afterward he was discharged from military service with hon- orable mention. He died in his native land at a good old age and universally respected.
Henry Ehrich grew to manhood and learned the tailor trade under the instruction of his father. He followed his craft in his native land until the death of his father in 1883, and then came to the United States. He located first in Adams county, Indiana, and after farming there for a few months, moved to Iowa, reaching that state in 1884, and remaining in it on a farm which he owned until 1902. He prospered in his farming operations, but ever felt a longing for the region farther west.
In 1902 he determined to gratify this longing, and sold his Iowa farm and other interests in that state, and moved to Linn county, Missouri. On his arrival in this county he bought a farm of eighty acres of land near Laclede, and on that he has ever since made his home. He has brought his farm to a high state of productiveness by skillful cultivation of it, and it is enriched with good modern buildings of every kind needed for its purposes and equipped with every appli- ance of the most approved type for working it. He has made it, in fact,
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a valuable up-to-date farm and it is a creditable monument to his vigor, enterprise and progressiveness as a farmer and his taste and good judg- ment as a builder.
Mr. Ehrich is a Republican in politics but not an active partisan. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and takes a cordial interest in the progress and welfare of both. On March 3, 1887, he was married in Iowa to Miss Levina Kent, a native of that state. They have no children of their own but are rearing an adopted son whose name is William, and who is now attending school and assisting in the work of the farm. The head of the house is a good citizen with an active, practical and helpful interest in all that pertains to the welfare of his township and county, and the progress and improvement of their residents. The people of the township have a high regard for him as a man and citizen, and he deserves it.
A. C. MOORE
A farmer in times of peace and a valiant Union soldier during a portion of the Civil War, A. C. Moore, one of the enterprising, pro- gressive and prosperous farmers of Jefferson township in this county, has demonstrated his devotion to his country and his abiding interest in its welfare in ways whose force and meaning cannot well be over- estimated, and which leave no doubt of the sincerity and high quality of his patriotism, or his willingness to put it to any test that may be required.
Mr. Moore is a native of Guernsey county, Ohio, where he was born on October 10, 1845. His parents, John and Nancy (Waller) Moore, were natives of Virginia and died in Ohio, where they were engaged in farming many years. The father was a soldier in the Mexican War. Of the five children born of their union, two sons and three daughters, three are living, and in their several localities are exemplifying in their daily lives the most sturdy and sterling traits of American citizenship.
The family has been a martial one from the beginning of its history in this country. A. C. Moore's great-grandfather was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, and even before it began. He was at Fort Neces- sity with General Washington in 1754-5, and subsequently served under him in the long struggle against Great Britain which ended in the independence of the United States and the formation of our present government. After a long record of usefulness to his country in vari-
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ous lines of endeavor he died at an advanced age in Virginia. Repre- sentatives of the family also took part in the War of 1812.
A. C. Moore was reared to manhood and educated in the state of his nativity. He was a peaceful and productive farmer there until the Civil War was in full progress and threatening the integrity of the Union far more seriously than was at first supposed it ever could, and he then enlisted in the army raised for the defense of the country from dismemberment, entering Company I, Eighty-fifth Ohio Volunteer In- fantry. At the end of his first term of enlistment he was re-enrolled in the One Hundred and Seventy-second regiment, in which he served to the close of the war. He took part in the battles of Shrub Oak Moun- tain and Cumberland Gap, and also in many engagements of a minor character.
In 1866 he came to Missouri to live, and passed six years in Pettis county, then moved to Linn county in 1872. Since then he has farmed and taught school in this county, making a good record in each avoca- tion and winning the respect, confidence and good will of the people around him in both. He is a Republican in his political party allegiance, but is not an active partisan, although always earnestly interested in the welfare of his township, county and state, and ardently desirous of seeing the best interests of the whole country promoted and advanced at all times.
Mr. Moore was first married in Ohio in 1865 to Miss Mary A. Gray, and by this marriage became the father of five children, all of whom are now residents of the state of Oklahoma. They are: Frank W., who is a farmer in that state; Nettie A., who is the wife of Wm. Watson; Nancy J., who is the wife of Jess Foster; Maud S., who is the wife of Edward Moore; and James L., who is a farmer. The father's second marriage took place in 1900, and was with Miss Alma Shoemaker, a native of Chariton county, Missouri. They have two children, their sons Harry E. and Virgil L.
THOMAS O'NEILL
Having been connected with the railroad service in this part of the country during the whole of his mature life, many years as a telegraph operator, and since 1878 as telegrapher and express, freight and ticket agent at St. Catharine, and having been all the time studiously attentive to his duties and generous in imparting his knowledge to others who were seeking to qualify themselves for similar work, Thomas O'Neill has
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