USA > Missouri > Linn County > Compendium of history and biography of Linn County, Missouri > Part 73
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On January 22, 1883, Mr. Ransom was joined in wedlock with Miss Virginia Millar, a native of Pennsylvania. She is a daughter of Thomas and Olean F. Millar, who came from that state to Linn county about 1868. Three children, all living, have been born of the union: Rena M., Virginia M. and Nathaniel G., Jr., all of whom are still resi- dents of this county, and stand well in the regard of its people.
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The improvement and further development of the county of his home has always been an object of great solicitude to Mr. Ransom, and he has been earnest in his support of all good projects involving this result. Nothing that he deems of value to the region in which he lives goes without his effective and intelligent practical support, and he by no means always waits for other persons to take the initiative. He is active in the fraternal life of his community as a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and in social circles gener- ally he is a live force. With reference to the cause of public education he is one of the most earnest and potential men in the county, and in every way he is one of Linn county's best and most useful citizens.
AID R. LEWIS
Although his life has been the uneventful and necessarily some- what monotonous one of a plain and unpretentious farmer, with none of the spectacular features which give men opportunity to exhibit their showy qualities, Aid R. Lewis of Clay township has found in it oppor- tunity to demonstrate that he is a man of sturdy character, upright living and faithful to duty in every form of its calls upon him, and he has found enjoyment in his lot, laborious as it has been, and unre- lenting in its demands for service and attention at all times. This is one of the advantages of plain and simple living. "Contentment, like the primrose, blooms along the common, beaten track."
Mr. Lewis is a native of Linn county, Missouri, born on October 17, 1871. His parents, Benjamin F. and Phoebe (Henderson) Lewis, were natives of Ohio, the father born in Washington county in that state in 1828, and the mother in Huron county, in 1835. The father grew to manhood in his native state, and in 1842 moved to Illinois. He was in quest of a region as nearly to his taste as he could find, and from Illinois changed his residence to Minnesota. From there he moved to Kansas, and finally, in 1871, came to Missouri and Linn county.
Here he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives, hers end- ing in 1884 and his on February 9, 1912. They were the parents of five sons and three daughters, and of the number four are living. The grandfather, Hezekiah Lewis, came to this country from England in 1794, and became a resident of Washington county, Ohio, where he died in 1861. He was a farmer in his native land and also in this country, and a good one, as was his son and as is his grandson.
Aid R. Lewis is wholly a product of this county. He grew to man-
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hood here, drew the bone and sinew of his frame from the local soil, obtained his education in the county schools, and has devoted all the years of his youth and manhood and all his energies to his part in the industries of the locality. And when the golden thread of sentiment began to run to a practical end in the fabric of his life, he was united in marriage with one of Linn county's desirable young ladies.
While attending school he worked on his father's farm and for a time after completing his education also. When he started to fight the battle of life for himself he began as a farmer, and he has continued the struggle for advancement among men to the present time (1912) as a farmer, with the exception of four years passed in the employ of the Burlington Railroad. In 1903 Mr. Lewis left the farm for a time, and began the study of telegraphy under Mr. E. A. Corey, then agent in charge of the Linneus station. At the end of one year he was given the position of night operator at Memphis, Missouri, the duties of which position he discharged for a like period of time, when he was promoted to the position of agent and operator at Plano, Iowa, where he remained but a few months, when he received another promo- tion, and filled various positions of trust until 1907. He was then compelled to resign, on account of his wife's health, and returned to the farm with the hope that the change would result in great benefit to her. But in this he was disappointed as Mrs. Lewis passed away on March 7, 1912, at the University Hospital of Kansas City, where she had gone to undergo an operation which they both believed would restore her to her former good health.
He has been successful in his undertakings and is now a man of comfortable worldly estate, and stands well in the estimation of his friends and neighbors and the people of the county generally. But it is to be noted that all the progress he has made has been through his own efforts, and all his achievements are the results of his own ability, industry and good management in every department of his business.
On November 28, 1894, Mr. Lewis was united in marriage with Miss Cordie Phillips, a daughter of James L. Phillips, who became a resident of Linn county in 1845. Her mother's maiden name was Sarah Bowyer. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis have had five children, four of whom are living, and all still members of the parental family circle and adding to its attractiveness as well as assisting in the work on the farm and in the household. They are: Carroll D., Vashti R., Iva M. and Bertie P. The father is a member of the Order of Odd Fellows. He is widely and favorably known, and is everywhere highly esteemed.
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JEREMIAH FRUIN (Deceased)
Was for a number of years an extensive landholder of Linn county, and also a leading contractor and builder in St. Louis. Jeremiah Fruin, of the firm of Fruin & Colnon of the Missouri metropolis, showed in several ways his capacity for great affairs and also for finding the way to them and conducting them to successful and most serviceable achievement. Undertakings whose magnitude would stagger even men of considerable ability and breadth of gauge, and would seem impossi- ble to smaller men, were matters of easy accomplishment with him, and under the magnetism of his masterly management moved forward to completion as smoothly as the planets in their orbits.
He was practically retired from active pursuits, at the time of his death in March, 1912, but his past record is as given in the paragraph above. No difficulty ever daunted, no disaster ever dismayed him. If he found obstructions in his way he easily went around or over them, and often even commanded them to his service and made them wings and weapons for his advancement along his luminous and triumphant course. .
Mr. Fruin was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, in 1831. When he was two years old his parents, John and Catherine (Baker) Fruin, brought him to the United States, and in this country the father, who was also a contractor, died in 1861. The son grew to manhood in America and in time became a resident of Missouri and bought about 3,000 acres of land along Locust creek, Linn county. He never lived on this land, but his son, John Jacob Fruin, handled it for many years.
The father kept on with his contracting enterprises in various places, after a time locating in St. Louis, where he became one of the leaders in construction work, building street railways, sewers and other large avenues of public utility. He wrote his name in large and enduring phrases in that great city especially, and what he did there is in keeping with its greatness and enterprise, whose requirements are extensive and exacting, and demand the power of genius to meet them.
John Jacob Fruin, his son, was married in 1894 to Miss Catherine Hawthorne, a St. Louis lady at the time of her marriage. She is a daughter of Robert and Mary (Potts) Hawthorne, natives of Man- chester, England. They were married in New Jersey, and were the parents of two sons and five daughters, all of whom are living. Mrs. Fruin's maternal grandfather, Joseph Potts, was an English army
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officer who was in the service in India and died there. Her paternal grandfather, William Hawthorne, was a professor of Mathematics in Dublin, Ireland, and his life ended in that city.
Mr. and Mrs. John Jacob Fruin have had two sons and one daugh- ter. The sons are living but the daughter has died. Jeremiah S., the older son, is a student at St. Mary's College, St. Marys, Kansas, and Alfred H. is attending school from the home of his parents.
THOMAS L. WATSON (Deceased)
The late Thomas L. Watson of Jefferson township, this county, who died on December 25, 1877, was in many respects a very interesting man, and although his career presented few spectacular features, it had some elements of heroism in it, and was always conducted in the staight and narrow path of duty in all the relations he bore among men. He lived in Linn county forty-four of the fifty-two years of his life, and during almost the whole of his mature life was engaged in farming.
Mr. Watson was born in Chariton county, this state, on July 23, 1825, and was the son of Thomas and Sarah Jane (Fowler) Watson, natives of Virginia, and among the earliest settlers in Linn county, locating here in 1833. The father was a man of local prominence in both Chariton and Linn counties, representing each in the state legis- lature. He kept the first tavern in this county, and the structure stood on the Brunswick and Chillicothe road on a farm now belonging to W. O. Anderson. His father, Thomas Watson, was born in Ireland and came to this country in 1773 before the Revolutionary War, in which he took part, being in the Colonial army throughout the seven years of the struggle and was present at the surrender of General Cornwallis. He died in this county in 1840, at the age of ninety-seven years. He served as sergeant of Captain Sam Kearsley's company, which was attached to the Sixth Virginia Regiment, commanded by Colonel James Hendricks.
Thomas L. Watson was reared on a farm and obtained his educa- tion in the primitive country school in the neighborhood of his home. When the Mexican War began he and his two brothers enlisted in Captain Barbee's company, and during the war were in General Price's command. They served through the whole of the short but decisive conflict, and at its close returned to Linn county. In 1849 Thomas
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became an argonaut and went with the moving throng to California. He came back a year later, and on March 13, 1851, he was united in marriage with Miss Eliza J. Parks, a daughter of James and Frances (Heryford) Parks, of Chariton county. He then located on the farm on which he died, the land having been granted to him by the govern- ment for his services in the Mexican War.
Although a vigorous farmer and attentive to all his duties as such, Mr. Watson was a great hunter, having the reputation of killing more deer than any other man in this county. He always had an abundant supply of venison the year round, and seemed to know better than any of his neighbors where to get game at all times. In addition to his farming and hunting he kept the first ferry on Locust creek in this county, and carried a hickory club on going to and from the ferry with which to kill snakes.
Mr. Watson was a deacon in the Baptist church for twenty-three years, and throughout his life, from the dawn of his manhood, was a most worthy and estimable citizen. His widow survived him almost thirty-three years, dying on the farm on August 12, 1910. They were the parents of thirteen children, six sons and seven daughters. Six of the daughters and two of the sons are living. Charles H., the first born of the family, was badly wounded while discharging a gun, the breech pin entering his forehead, when he was seventeen years old. He died of this wound seven years later, but in the meantime more than forty pieces of his skull were taken out from time to time. The other children were named in the order of birth: Missouri F., William T., James, Jordan P., Bettie L., Mary E., Sarah R., Oscar Y., Ada E., Ellen L., Clarence B. and Zella M. Those who are now living are: Missouri F., Wm. T., Bettie L., Sarah R., Oscar Y., Ada E., Ellen L., Zella M., and all are residents of Linn county but two.
FRANK E. GRESS
Photography, the real "art preservative" in all our activities, which catches and fixes in imperishable lineaments the witching smile of childhood, the noble beauty of womanhood, and even smoothes away the ruggedness from the wrinkled brow of care, is well represented in Brookfield by the work of Frank E. Gress, the leading photographer of the city and this part of the state. He has a thorough mastery of his business in all its details, and he gives his patrons the full benefit
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of all his knowledge and skill in the work he does for them at all times, never slighting anything.
It is gratifying to the people who patronize him and the residents of the whole community to know, too, that he is a native artist, having been born, reared and educated in Linn county, and began his career as an artist here. His life began on December 10, 1884, at Bucklin, where his parents, Frank and Helen (Harrison) Gress, were then liv- ing. The father was a native of the state of New York and the mother of Missouri. The father was in the railroad service during the greater part of his mature life, serving as station agent at Bucklin for ten years, and afterward as a conductor until his death, which occurred in 1907, the mother dying within the same year.
The son, who is the immediate subject of these paragraphs, began life for himself under the deep gloom of his double bereavement through the death of his parents, and amid difficulties of a serious nature due to his having to care and provide for the five younger chil- dren in the family and his grandmother. He supported them all for years, and is still aiding in the support of three of the children. But these difficulties did not freeze up the artistic soul within him or dampen the ardor with which it inspired him. They seemed only to strengthen the fiber of his manhood, increase his determination to suc- ceed in life and fortify his courage for its battle.
Mr. Gress grew to manhood in Brookfield and attended its public schools. After leaving school he served a year and a half as appren- tice to J. C. Gardner, prominent as a photographer in Brookfield, and at the close of this apprenticeship went to Kansas City, Missouri, where he passed five years completing his preparation for his pro- fession and perfecting himself in the details of the business. At the end of the period mentioned he returned to Brookfield, and on May 6, 1906, opened the studio which he now conducts, and which, by his industry and enterprise he has made the most complete, and through his artistic sense the most ornate and attractive, in this locality and one not easily surpassed in any city of the size and rank of Brookfield or much larger ones.
On October 1, 1911, Mr. Gress was united in marriage with Miss Pyrle G. Churchill, a native of Iowa and the daughter of L. S. and Emma (Gold) Churchill, residents of the county since 1908. In the fraternal life of the community Mr. Gress has taken a warm interest as a member of the Order of Elks and several other fraternities. In all matters pertaining to the improvement of his home city and county
JAMES HIER, SR.
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and the welfare and benefit of their people he has always been ener- getic and helpful, never withholding his hand from any that he could aid, and never stinting the service he has sought to render. His career has been prosperous from the beginning, and he has appreciated the support the community has given him. In return he has done all he could to help the city along, and the people appreciate his efforts in the same measure. They esteem him also as a man and a citizen, and he has shown himself worthy of the regard bestowed upon him by his demeanor in every relation in life.
JAMES HIER, SR.
Having located at Marceline within a year after the town was founded, and having passed all his subsequent years within its borders, actively engaged in industrial or mercantile pursuits, James Hier, Sr., who is one of the few of its old settlers still left to tell the story of the earlier days of struggle and effort to get the new municipal creation on its feet and moving forward, is entitled to the veneration felt for him as pioneer, and the universal respect he enjoys as a man and citizen.
Mr. Hier was born in the mining section of Wales on January 19, 1846, and is a son of William and Lettuce (Lewis) Hier, both of whom passed the whole of their lives and died in Wales. The father was a miner, and the son grew to manhood amid mining scenes, and also went to work in the mines as soon as he was old enough, which was in his boyhood. He remained at home, working in the mines and cherish- ing an ambition for something better in life, until 1869. Then, being twenty-three years old, and full of resolution and self-reliance, he determined to seek wider opportunities and more promising condi- tions in a foreign land than any which appeared before him in his own.
Accordingly, in that year he came to the United States and located at Bevier, Macon county, in this state. He at once found employment in the mines there, for the work of which he was well qualified, and remained there engaged in mining twenty years. In 1889 he moved to Marceline, and here he passed the first two years of his residence working in the mines also, and being among the first men to dig coal in this locality. He was not, however, merely a coal digger as a laborer, for he was operating the mine himself and on his own account.
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In 1891 Mr. Hier opened a grocery store, and in the management of this he has been continuously engaged almost ever since. He has won and kept the confidence of the people as a merchant, and has also secured for himself their approval and regard as a citizen and public official, having served them and the city well and wisely as an alder- man for some years. He has always been deeply and intelligently interested in the progress and development of the city, township and county of his residence, and has shown his interest by judicious and helpful support of every desirable enterprise for their advancement.
In politics Mr. Hier is a Republican and loyal to his party, though not eager for anything it has to bestow in the way of public office. Fraternally he is connected with the Order of Odd Fellows, and in religious affiliation he has been a member of the Baptist church for fifty-five years. Both his lodge and his church claim a large share of his attention, for he believes firmly in both as means of grace for the improvement of mankind, and is zealous in aiding them to the largest and best development and greatest usefulness.
Mr. Hier was married on December 23, 1865, to Miss Ann Evans, who is, like himself, a native of Wales. They have seven children: Annie, who is now the wife of William L. Mathewson, of Washington; William, who is a resident of Montana; Margaret M., who is the wife of Lawrence Love, of Marceline; James T., a resident of Marceline; Elizabeth, who married Sandusky C. Bevans, and has her home with him at Marceline; Hannah, who is married to J. H. George, and dwells at Marceline, and Elmer, who resides in the new state of Oklahoma, and exemplifies the enterprise of its people in his own.
PRICE BOWYER
Well known throughout Linn county and the counties which adjoin it as a leading farmer and breeder of high grade horses and jacks, and generally respected by all classes of the people as an ele- vated and useful citizen, Price Bowyer of Jackson township, this county, occupies a position in the public regard that would be credit- able to any man and must be based on genuine merit. In their esti- mate of him the people are not misled by any pretentiousness or dis- play of tinsel on his part, for he is a plain, practical man of business, and as such they have known him long, for he has lived in the county from his birth.
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Mr. Bowyer was born in Clay township in 1861, the date of his birth being December 30. He is a son of Spencer and Sarah A. (Deer- ing) Bowyer, the former also a native of this county and the latter born in Warren county, Missouri. The father was born in Clay town- ship in 1835. His father, Jesse Bowyer, was born and reared in Ten- nessee and came to Missouri in his young manhood. He located first in Howard county, then, at an early day, moved to Linn county, where he died well advanced in years.
Spencer Bowyer, the father of Price, grew to manhood in Linn county aud farmed here for many years, then retired from active work and took up his residence in Linneus. He and his wife were the par- ents of thirteen children, nine sons and four daughters. Seven of the sons and three of the daughters are living, and five of the ten are res- idents of Linn county, still abiding in the land of their parents and grandparents.
Price Bowyer was reared and educated in Linn county, and has been engaged in farming and breeding high grade horses and jacks, as has been noted, from the dawn of his manhood. He has been suc- cessful in both departments of his industry, and has won for himself a wide-spread and excellent reputation as an enterprising and pro- gressive farmer, and a knowing and far-seeing live stock man. All his operations are conducted with the utmost care and on the best information available to him, and the result is that his products are of the first quality in both harvests and stock.
On October 9, 1881, Mr. Bowyer was united in marriage with Miss Malinda Turner, a daughter of William and Hannah (West) Turner of Linn county, this state. Of the children born of the union seven are living: Berl, Floy, Mabel, Sally, Omi J. Spencer and Sterling P. Floy is the wife of O. L. Phillips; Mabel is the wife of C. E. Goins, and Sally is the wife of G. D. Alexander. Omi J., Spencer and Sterling P. are still living under the parental roof tree.
Mr. Bowyer is a Democrat in his political relations and has been an active and intelligent worker for his party for years. He has held no office, however, and desired none but that of school director. Frater- nally he is a member of the Order of Odd Fellows. He has pushed his own business with enterprise and vigor, and he has displayed the same qualities with regard to the affairs of his township and county, taking an active part in every undertaking involving their progress and im- provement. He is well known and well thought of in all parts of the county, both for his skill and progressiveness in his business and for his public spirit and strong local patriotism as a man and citizen.
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DR. JENKINS GOOCH
Although not a native of Linn county, Dr. Jenkins Gooch, who now lives near Purdin, but in Jackson township, has been a resident of the county from the time when he was but three months old, and is now the oldest physician and surgeon within its borders. He is passing the evening of his long and useful life on his farm, retired from active prac- tice, resting from his labors and enjoying the fruits of his past-time industry and good management in his business affairs. And the evening of life for him is one of great serenity and beauty. For he is comfort- able in a worldly way and he is cheered and consoled for all the cares he has ever borne and all the privations he ever suffered by the univer- sal esteem of the whole population of the county in which he so long labored and ministered to the welfare of the people of all classes and conditions.
Dr. Gooch was born on his father's farm in Chariton county, Mis- souri, on September 7, 1841, and within the same year his parents moved to Linn county and located on government land in Jackson town- ship. Their history will be found in a sketch of the doctor's brother, Alexander Gooch, which appears elsewhere in this volume. The doctor was reared to manhood in Jackson township, and obtained his early education in the schools of the wilderness around him, the one he attended most being located one and one-half miles southwest of his father's farm, and known as the Mount Olive School. As he grew to boyhood and youth, he assisted in clearing the wild land on which the family was located, and later received more advanced instruction in academic lines at Roanoke Academy, in Howard county.
After completing the course of learning available at this institu- tion, he began studying medicine under the tuition of Dr. Harvey, of Roanoke, and, when he felt that he was sufficiently prepared, attended lectures at the Missouri Medical College, in St. Louis. This was in the winter of 1867-8, and he began his practice in the summer of 1868. He kept up his close attention to his profession and his industry in prac- ticing it until about two years ago; then, feeling that he had accom- plished his mission in it, he retired from practice, devoting his attention to his farm, on which he has since been living quietly.
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