USA > Missouri > Linn County > Compendium of history and biography of Linn County, Missouri > Part 64
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In 1833 he brought his family overland from his Kentucky home to this state and chose Linn county as his future residence. He took up a quarter section of government land three miles north of Meadville, and located on that. The land was all heavily timbered at the time, and without improvements of any kind. He put up a log cabin as a shelter for his family and began to clear and cultivate the soil. The dwelling had few comforts or conveniences, as we estimate such things now. Its chimney was constructed of sticks and mud, and all its other appointments were but little, if any, removed beyond that state of crudeness. But it had the sacred character of a home, was a domestic altar, and the firm foundation of high and worthy hopes and enviable prospects.
During his life the father improved several similar farms in Linn county, and finally died in 1872, at the age of sixty-three years, on the one now owned and occupied by his son Lilburn. He was one of the renowned hunters of this part of the state, and particularly successful in bringing down deer, wild turkeys and large game in general, even though the chase was at times hazardous and always required expert- ness with the rifle, especially when game became less plentiful in the region than it was when he first "stuck his stake" and founded his household shrine in it. He was county assessor of Linn county in 1862 and 1863.
He and his wife were very prominent in the Methodist church in this locality, the father being one of the leaders of the sect in its early history here, and the mother also active in all church work. Eight of their children grew to maturity, their son Lilburn and seven of his sis- ters, but only four of them are now living. Their mother died in 1870.
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Their grandfather, James Howell, was also a native of Hopkins county, Kentucky, and came to Linn county, Missouri, in 1832, locating in Clay township, where he cleared and improved a farm. There were but 10 families in the county at that time. He owned the only grind stone in this section and the neighbors and Indians came for miles around to use it.
He was one of the first county judges elected in the county, and served in that capacity for a number of years. In 1849 he crossed the plains to California with ox teams, but instead of hunting for gold in that state he gave his attention to farming, remaining there until his death. He was married twice and became the father of seven sons and by the two unions, four by the first and three by the second.
Lilburn L. Howell was reared to manhood on his father's farm in this county, which he helped to clear and in the cultivation of which he was employed from an early age, assisting in breaking up the ground for the first time when he was but ten years old. He remained at home until he reached the age of twenty, and then began farming on his own account, moving to Kansas for the purpose and remaining there until 1866. In that year he returned to this county, and here he has lived and labored industriously and profitably ever since, clearing and im- proving the farm on which he lives and making it one of the most valu- able in the township in which it is located.
While living in Kansas Mr. Howell served in the militia of that state and aided in driving out of it the Confederate army under the command of General Price. He was present when the city of Lawrence was raided by the Confederates and witnessed many of the incidents attending that event. He also saw many other impressive outgrowths of the sectional feeling, which was intense in degree and violent in expression all along the border, as it always has been everywhere in border warfare.
Mr. Howell was married in 1859 to Miss Amanda Pennington, a daughter of Garrett and Susan (Pruitt) Pennington, early arrivals in this county. Five children were born of the union, all of whom are now deceased but two: Mary, who is the wife of John H. Duncan, a sketch of whom will be found in this work; and Leona, the wife of Robert P. Hincher, both of them residents of Linn county. Their mother died in 1886. The father is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and zealous in the service of the congregation to which he belongs. He is one of the most highly respected citizens in the county, as well as one of the oldest in length of life among its people.
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY
JAMES H. SIDEBOTTOM
(Deceased) v
The untimely death of the late James H. Sidebottom, one of the intelligent, enterprising and successful farmers of Parsons Creek town- ship, on August 30, 1884, at the early age of forty-four years, when he was in the prime of his manhood and fullness of his vigor, cast a gloom over the section of the county in which he had lived and labored, and called forth strong expressions of regret in many other localities. For Mr. Sidebottom was a good man and a useful citizen, and had the unstinted respect of everybody who knew him in all parts of Linn county.
Mr. Sidebottom was born in Mason county, Kentucky, on May 13, 1840, and was a son of Rev. Robinson E. and Nancy (Burton) Side- bottom, the story of whose lives is briefly given in a sketch of his brother, Eugene Sidebottom, to be found elsewhere in this work. James was seventeen years old when the family moved to this county and located on an unimproved tract of land between Laclede and Linneus. He assisted in clearing this farm and bringing it under cultivation, remaining at home until his marriage on July 21, 1867, to Miss Sarah E. Botts, a daughter of Seth and Elizabeth (Littrell) Botts, and a sister of Joseph Botts, in a sketch of whom on another page of this volume the family history will be found.
v After their marriage James H. Sidebottom and his bride located on the farm now occupied by the family, which was also an unbroken tract of timber when they took possession of it. They erected a log cabin and cleared the land to the extent of 250 acres during the life of the husband, and were rapidly making it one of the desirable rural homes of the township, when death ended his labors, and left to others the completion of the good work he had begun and so succseefully carried forward. During the Civil War he served in the state militia, as he was always ready to do anything he could for the benefit of his own locality, his state and the whole country, and he deemed the preserva- tion of the Union a matter of the utmost importance to all mankind.
He and his wife were the parents of nine children, six of whom are living: Thomas B., Joseph C., David G., Lenora (who is the wife of J. L. Evans of Meadville), Seth E., and Florence (the wife of W. H. Mor- rison of Livingston county). The mother is still living on the farm she helped to bring to fruitfulness, and is still as warmly interested as ever in the welfare of the township and county in which she has her
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home, the residents of which regard her as one of the most estimable, deserving and useful matrons among them.
During his life Mr. Sidebottom showed his interest in the progress and improvement of his locality by earnest support of every commend- able undertaking designed to promote its advancement and add to its influence and importance in the state. He also had a sincere and prac- tical regard for the comfort and betterment of its people in every way, and did all he could to improve conditions for them, morally, mentally, socially and materially. His public spirit and progressiveness were highly appreciated by all who had the benefit of them, and wherever he was known he was warmly esteemed for his genuine worth and ele- vated and useful citizenship.
WALTER PENDLETON
Grandson of one of the two first white settlers in Linn county, and following in the footsteps of grandfather and father in tilling the soil of the region the former helped materially to open to civilization, Wal- ter Pendleton of Marceline township has an interest in the county unusual in its character and basis, and embodying historical elements that in the nature of the case can appertain to but few men in any com- munity. His grandfather sowed the seed of the present civilization of the county, and his father and himself have helped to mature and reap the crop, so far as it has advanced to the present time (1912).
James F. Pendleton, the pioneer alluded to, and his companion, William Howell, residents of Howard county, came into the Locust Creek country in 1830 on a hunting expedition. They found the coun- try greatly in accordance with their desires and determined to return and settle on some of its fertile land. Accordingly, in the fall of 1831, they came back to the region and built the two first cabins erected within the borders of the county, as it is now, choosing their location in what is now Locust Creek township, and fixing their claim in Section 14, Township 58, Range 21, which is now the most southwestern section of that township. They built a cabin and fenced five or six acres of their land that fall, then returned to their Howard county homes. The next spring they moved their families to the new land they had selected, and thus became the first bona fide white settlers in Linn county.
Walter Pendleton was born at Laclede on August 13, 1870, and is a son of Larkin C. and Ada (Spurling) Pendleton, also natives of Missouri. The father was a carpenter and clerk in times of peace, and a
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY
valiant soldier in the Union army for four years during the Civil War. He died in Chillicothe, Missouri, in May, 1906. The mother is still living and has her home in Marceline. They were the parents of three children, two sons and one daughter, all of whom are living, but Walter is the only one of the three who resides in Linn county.
He was reared and educated in this county and began life as an apprentice to the printing trade in the office of the Marceline Journal under the instruction of Dr. Smith, who was then the proprietor of the paper. He worked at the trade until 1897, then began the farming industry, which he has conducted ever since. He is progressive and successful in his undertaking, and is generally recognized as one of the leading farmers in the township with reference to the modernness and intelligence of his methods and the breadth of view and enterprise with which he carries on his operations, keeping pace with the progress in agriculture and securing the best attainable returns from all the land he has under cultivation.
On March 10, 1897, Mr. Pendleton was united in marriage with Miss Louisa A. Wyant, a daughter of George W. and Louisa (Baugher) Wyant. They became residents of Linn county in 1855, moving to this state from Virginia, and locating in Baker township, where they owned a large tract of land. In 1889 they moved to what is now Marceline township, and here the father died in August, 1910. The mother is still living, making her home with her son-in-law, the subject of this sketch, where she enjoys the respect and regard of the people of all classes in a marked degree because of her genuine worth.
Mr. and Mrs. Pendleton have three children, their daughter Irene and their sons Cason W. and Page R. The parents belong to the Meth- odist Episcopal church. They are well and favorably known through- out the county and none of its citizens is more highly respected than are they. For they perform with fidelity and energy every duty they owe to their township and the surrounding country, take their part cheerfully and effectively in all projects for the betterment of their com- munity and give helpful countenance and support to all good agencies at work among its people. In connection with the material welfare of the region in which they live, and its development and improvement, they are energetic and progressive, aiding in every way they can to promote its advancement at the most rapid rate consistent with whole- some growth and enduring benefit.
To read or reflect over the life story of this gentleman and the his- torical suggestions it calls up is like opening a door into an old romance or retracing the footsteps of history-not her shining footsteps which
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mark her progress along the high course of great affairs, but those she has made in this region in her useful walks among the sturdy founders and builders of the county. The story and what it opens the way to, carry the mind back instinctively to the time when this was a pristine wilderness, still inhabited by its wild denizens of man and beast, and when the region was yet in its sleep of ages, awaiting the commanding might of mind to call it to arise and greet its lord, the civilization that was to come. This is an oft-told tale in American chronicles, and it is enough to allude to it here without any attempt to narrate it over again. It inevitably suggests, also, the striking contrast between that period and the present, and emphasizes anew what human enterprise has done in the way of conquest over the American wilds and the development of their resources for the benefit and service of mankind.
ALBERT P. SWAN
There is always a peculiar interest attaching to the founders of new commonwealths, counties, cities or communities. Something of pater- nity seems to belong to them, and all the subsequent achievements of what they found apears to reflect credit on them. Albert P. Swan bears this relation to the city of Marceline. He was one of its pioneer resi- dents, helped to start it on its beneficent way of progress and of benefit to the surrounding country, aided in fencing in the land on which it stands, and took a forceful part in laying the foundations of its civic, educational and religious institutions, and he now beholds the result of the prevision and enterprise of himself and his fellows in founding the city, and sees that that result is good in every way.
Mr. Swan was born near Birmingham, Oakland county, Michigan, on July 17, 1842, and is a son of Avery and Catherine (Ackerman) Swan, the former a native of Connecticut and the latter of the state of New York. The father was a farmer and moved from New York state to Oakland county, Michigan, when that region was still an almost unbroken wilderness. He cleared and improved a farm there, then sold it and moved to St. Clair county, where he did the same work over again. Some years later he changed his residence to Macomb county and made a new home'out of another tract of the wilds. He was born in 1806 and died at Pontiac, Michigan, in 1880. The mother died near Birmingham in 1872, on September 15th. They had ten children, six sons and four daughters, and five of the number are living. John Swan, the grandfather of these children, was born and reared in Connecticut.
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He became a pioneer of Michigan and died in Oakland county of that state.
Albert P. Swan was reared in Oakland and St. Clair counties, Mich- igan, attended the country schools and aided his father in clearing one of the two farms he redeemed from the wilderness and made valuable with improvements. After finishing his education he engaged in farm- ing in his native state, and there he continued his operations in this useful line of endeavor until 1869, when he came to Missouri and located on the Linn county farm which is still his home. This he has improved until it is one of the best, most productive and most desirable in the county in proportion to its size, and one of its most attractive rural homes.
Mr. Swan was married on April 13, 1865, to Miss Elizabeth Lang- worthy, a daughter of William and Lydia (Latham) Langworthy, pio- neers of Michigan, where they both died. Mr. and Mrs. Swan have had nine children, seven of whom are living: Estella, the wife of Edward Anderson of Linn county; Kate, the widow of the late G. A. Beech; Cora, the wife of Frank Porter, also a resident of this county; Arthur L. and Alice L., twins, the latter being now the widow of the late Arthur M. Haley; and Ruth E. and Ernest W., who are living at home with their parents, with whom Mrs. Haley also dwells.
Mr. Swan gives his political faith and support to the principles of the Republican party, but he is not and never has been desirous of pub- lic office, finding plenty to occupy his time and energies in attention to the requirements of his farm and the ordinary duties of citizenship. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and earnestly interested in its work for every good purpose, as they are in all worthy undertakings and agencies for the betterment of their com- munity and township and the substantial welfare of their residents. They are well known in all parts of the county and everywhere are highly respected.
WARD L. BALLARD
This interesting subject, who is one of the model farmers of Buck- lin township, has had experience in agricultural pursuits in several dif- ferent places and under widely varying circumstances. He was reared from the age of eleven years on a farm in one of the counties of this state on its southern border; he lived on and brought into market as a partially improved farm a tract of unbroken prairie in Western Kan- sas, and he has been one of Linn county's substantial and progressive
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY
farmers during the last twenty-three years. If a man can learn the art of farming through study and experience in its operations Mr. Ballard ought to be a master of it, and his farm and all his work on it show that he is.
Ward L. Ballard was born in Bradford county, Pennsylvania, on February 13, 1865, and is a son of Alexander and Eliza (Bratt) Bal- lard, also natives of that state. The parents moved their family to Missouri in 1876 and located at Thayer, in Linn county, where the father owned 180 acres of land, and on this they lived twenty-five years. They then moved to Brookfield in this county, and there they ended their days, the father dying on December 10, 1905, and the mother on Decem- ber 10, 1910.
The father was a merchant and lumberman in Pennsylvania, but in Missouri he devoted himself wholly to farming as long as he kept up active pursuits. He and his wife were zealous members of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church South. They had three sons and two daughters, all of whom are living, and all but one of them reside in Linn county. Joseph Ballard, grandfather of Ward L., was a farmer in Pennsylvania, where he died. His ancestors were English people, some of whom came to this country at an early date and became loyal and patriotic Ameri- can citizens, as all their descendants have been, wherever they have lived and whatever their pursuits.
Ward L. Ballard was educated in the public schools and assisted his father in the work on the home farm until he was twenty-years of age. In 1885 he went to Norton county, Kansas, and took up a tract of government land, which he lived on and improved for three years, then sold it. In 1888 he returned to Missouri and bought a farm in Linn county, which is still his home and has been ever since. It comprises 230 acres, and when he purchased it was only partially developed and under cultivation. The industry and intelligence he has applied to its cultivation during the last twenty-three years have made it one of the choice farms of the township in which it is located and worthy of fair comparison with any of its size in the county.
On Jan. 11, 1888, Mr. Ballard was united in marriage with Miss Mollie Sights, a daughter of Isaac and Margaret (Wood) Sights of Linn. Six children have been born of the union, all of whom are living. They are: Vena C., Herbert R., Mabel M., Myron W., Marguerite and Edward O. They are all yet members of the parental family circle, and while aiding in the work on the farm, they also add to the attractive- ness of the home as a social center and resort for the numerous friends and admiring acquaintances of the household.
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The father is a Republican in political faith and allegiance, and loyal to his party and zealous in its service. But he has never sought or desired official station and has steadily preferred the freedom and independence of private life. He and the members of his family attend the Methodist Episcopal church. He takes an active interest in the im- provement of his township and is considered one of its most estimable and useful citizens from every point of view.
ROBERT K. KINNEY
After living to the age of twenty-eight years in his native state of New York, and then twelve and a half years in Kansas, where he was a pioneer, Robert K. Kinney, one of the best known and most highly esteemed farmers of Bucklin township, chose Linn county, Missouri, as his home and has lived here almost thirty years. He has been a farmer here ever since his arrival in the county and has lived all the time on the farm which he now owns, occupies and cultivates. He has also mingled freely with the people of the county, borne his full share of the labor and care connected with their industries, done whatever he could to pro- mote their welfare, and contributed in every way open to him to the progress and improvement of his township and the whole county. He is justly esteemed as a forceful and useful citizen, with an active prac- tical and productive interest in the locality of his home and full of zeal in aiding in its advance.
Mr. Kinney was born at Toddsville, Otsego county, New York, on May 14, 1844. His father and mother, Joseph A. and Lorena (Mur- dock) Kinney, were also born and reared in that state. The father was a physician and practiced his profession in his native state for a period of fifteen years, or until 1868, when he came to Missouri and bought a farm in this county seven miles north of Brookfield, on which he died in 1884, and where his wife died in 1901. They were the parents of four sons and one daughter. The daughter died some years ago. The sons are all living and all resident of Linn county, as they have been for a long time.
William Kinney, the grandfather of Robert K., was a native of Salem, Massachusetts. He moved from there to the state of New York, where he operated a distillery and a cotton mill for many years. He then moved to Kentucky and carried on his business in that state, and there he died at an advanced age, after a long and successful business career, and in the full enjoyment of the respect and good will of every-
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body that knew him. For he was an upright and straightforward man in all the relations of life and made himself a very worthy and useful citizens wherever he lived.
Robert K. Kinney obtained his education at a good academy in Ot- sego county, New York, and after completing it engaged in the draying business until 1872. In that year he moved to Mitchell county, Kansas, where he was among the earliest settlers. He took up a tract of gov- ernment land in that county and lived on and farmed and improved it for twelve and a half years. In 1884 he came to this county and bought the farm in Bucklin township on which he now resides, and which he has brought to an advanced state of improvement and pro- ductiveness. The farm comprises 112 acres and is all under skillful and studious cultivation, for Mr. Kinney is a progressive and wide- awake farmer and a thorough master of his business.
Mr. Kinney was married in the state of New York on February 23, 1865, to Miss Mary E. Hilts, a native of the same state as himself. They have had six sons and two daughters. One of the daughters has died, but all the rest of the children are living. They are: William F., James A., Robert K., Jr., Howard, Bert and Calvin, sons, and their sister Opal. All stand well in the estimation of the people who know them and are altogether worthy of the high regard in which they are held.
The father is a Republican in political faith and allegiance and has long been an active and servicable worker for his party. While living in Kansas he filled all the offices in the gift of the people of his township, and for eight years served as county clerk. He is a man of force and influence in this county, but he has never sought a political office here, having found himself always sufficiently occupied with the management of his farm and the ordinary duties of citizenship without any of the cares and responsibilities of official station or public life in any capacity. In fraternal circles he is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and takes a cordial and helpful interest in the affairs of his Lodge and those of the fraternity in general.
His long residence in the county and his public spirit in its behalf have made him well known in all parts of it and won him the regard and good will of all its people. His farm is something of a historic landmark also. The old town of Thayer, which never realized the promise of its birth, and has practically gone off the map, was laid out on this farm, and for a time the land was looked upon as very likely to become a profitable asset in the mercantile and commercial life of this part of the county. It has been profitable to Mr. Kinney, for he has
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