USA > Missouri > Linn County > Compendium of history and biography of Linn County, Missouri > Part 80
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The tract embraced 120 acres, and in the course of a few years Mr. Wilson had transformed it into a productive farm, enriched it with good buildings and other improvements, and made an attractive and valuable home of it. As time passed and he prospered, he found it desirable to add to his industry, and became a successful and well known breeder of Heriford cattle, and also kept a store at Shelby for five years. He succeeded by his influence and energy in having a post- office established there, and served as the first postmaster, keeping the office in his store.
Mr. and Mrs. Wilson became the parents of seven children, four of whom are living: William L., Charles L., Ethel J. and Herbert L. Ethel is now the wife of J. Berkholder. The father was a Republican in political relations, ardently attached to the principles of his party and zealous in support of them. Fraternally he was connected with the Masonic Order and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. In the public affairs of his township and county he was always deeply, prac- tically and helpfully interested, and in seeking to promote the general welfare no man in his township was more energetic or effective.
DR. J. M. BOYLES
Esteemed as a man and citizen, popular as a physician and surgeon and admired as a farmer, Dr. J. M. Boyles of Shelby, this county, haz evidently made a good record among the people for whom he has labored and with whom he has been associated professionally and otherwise from the time when he was ten years old, and as an active and capable doctor for about twenty-eight years. He is not a native of Linn county, but almost all of his life to the present time (1912) has been passed in it, and he is therefore as closely connected with its history, as warmly interested in its welfare and as strongly attached to its residents as he could be if he had been born here, as he was reared and educated.
The doctor's life began in Hancock county, Ohio, on October 4, 1856. His parents, David and Rhodie (Culp) Boyles, were also born in Ohio, and were reared and educated in that state. The father farmed there until 1866, then moved his family to this county, locating on a farm 'south of Linneus. He lived on and cultivated this farm until a few years ago, when he retired from active pursuits and took up his residence in Linneus. While the Civil War was in progress he served
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY
in the Union army two years in an Iowa regiment, his service being all on the frontier. The mother is still living. She and her husband are the parents of seven children, four sons and three daughters.
The grandfather, John Boyles, was born and reared in Pennsyl- vania and moved to Ohio in his young manhood and the early history of the state. He came with his son David ,to Linn county in 1866, and here he passed the remainder of his life. He was the father of nine sons and one daughter. The daughter and two of the sons are living.
Dr. Boyles grew to manhood in Linn county and obtained his gen- eral academic education in the district schools. After completing their course of instruction he attended the State Normal School at Kirksville with a view to preparing himself for a teacher, and he taught school five years. While teaching he studied medicine under the direction of Dr. O. H. Wood of Brookfield, and during the winter of 1880-81 at- tended the medical department of the State University.
He began practicing on a certificate in 1884 at North Salem, where he continued that arrangement until 1889. He then took a course of lectures in the Missouri Medical College, St. Louis, and from that institution he was graduated in 1890. He then took up his residence at Shelby, and here he has ever since lived, practiced medicine and en- gaged in general farming. His practice has been large and remunera- tive and his farming operations have been conducted in a way that has made them profitable. But the doctor has been a very busy man, for he has never allowed anything to interfere with his professional duties, and they have been very exacting.
On June 14, 1905, he was married to Miss Agnes R. Mattis, a daugh- ter of John and Mary (Haas) Mattis, natives of Germany. The father died in his native land and the mother came to this country in 1888. Dr. and Mrs. Boyles are the parents of three children: John C., Fran- cis N. and Robert E. The doctor is a director of the Stock Growers' Bank of Purdin. In fraternal relations he is a Freemason, and in all matters involving the welfare and improvement of his township and county he is deeply, practically and helpfully interested. He is favor- ably known all over the county, and is esteemed as one of its best and most useful citizens.
JACOB E. SPENCER
Standing well in the good opinion and approbation of all residents of Linn county as a first-rate farmer, enterprising, progressive and re- sourceful, and prominent as an advanced and successful breeder of
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mules and high-grade horses in this county and throughout a large extent of the surrounding country, Jacob E. Spencer of Grantville. township, this county, has lived and employed his time and abilities to good purpose for his own advancement and the benefit of the locality in which he has passed his life from boyhood engaged in useful labor.
Mr. Spencer was born in Jasper county, Missouri, on April 3, 1869, and is a son of Richard W. and Mary C. (Pipes) Spencer, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of Missouri. The father was yet a child when his parents moved from the Old Dominion to this state. His father, also named Jacob Spencer, selected Sullivan county as his place of residence, and located on a tract of wild land which he trans- formed into a model farm. He then moved his family to Jasper county in this state, and there both he and his wife died. They were the parents of five sons and four daughters, all but one of whom are living.
Their son Richard, the father of Jacob E., moved from Jasper to Linn county, and passed the rest of his days engaged in farming, dying on his Linn county farm in 1908. During the Civil War he served in the state militia, but was not called into actual hostilities. During many years of his life he was a devout and attentive member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and always he was an excellent and useful citizen. The mother is still living. Three sons and two daughters were born of their union, and all of the five are living.
Jacob E. Spencer was reared from boyhood in this county and educated in its country schools. He grew to manhood on his father's farm and acquired a thorough practical knowledge of farming by par- ticipation in its useful labors, aiding his father in the cultivation of it until he attained his manhood. When he took up for himself the strug- gle for advancement among men he naturally turned to the occupa- tion 'he was trained to and became a farmer on his own account; and to this occupation he has ever since adhered without a break or inter- ruption of any kind.
During the last five years Mr. Spencer has been actively and profit- ably engaged in breeding mules and high-grade horses in connection with his general farming operations. In this, as in his farming, he has been very successful, making money out of the business and win- ning a high reputation as a careful, enterprising and judicious breeder. His stables are extensively known and enjoy an excellent name for the superior quality of their output, which is always the product of intel- ligence, the utmost care and good management. The best results pos- sible are what Mr. Spencer aims at, and he generally, if not invariably, hits his mark.
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In 1890 he was united in marriage with Miss Fannie L. Shrader, a daughter of Robert Shrader, who became a resident of Linn county about the year 1880. Of the offspring of the union seven are living: Earl, Ray, Roy, Lee, Gertrude, Goldie and Lloyd. They are domesti- cated with their parents on a fine farm of 470 acres belonging to the father, and all acquired by his industry, thrift, business ability and good management of his affairs. He has applied the same elements of power to the affairs of the county, where he has taken part in them, seeking always wholesome progress and development and the general welfare of the whole people. Fraternally he belongs to the Masonic Order, and in all respects he is a first-rate citizen and universally esteemed as such.
CHARLES E. SMITH
This gentleman is one of the leading country merchants of Linn county, and, although he has varied his occupation by farming for years at a time, he is now in his true field of enterprise, if fair infer- ences can be drawn from the success he is achieving in it. He was suc- cessful as a farmer, too, and throughout his long life in this county has demonstrated to its people that he has native ability and judg- ment of a high order, and would likely have won success in any line of endeavor.
Mr. Smith was born in Sullivan county, Missouri, on February 1, 1861, and is a son of Addison J. and Docia (Peaveler) Smith, the former a native of New York State and the latter of Kentucky. From the dawn of his manhood the father was a farmer. In his boyhood he moved with his parents from his native state to Illinois, and from that state to Missouri and Linn county, locating here in 1858. He took up his residence on a farm west of Salem in 1860, and was married in that neighborhood about that time. He was not allowed to enjoy his domes- tic happiness undisturbed for a very long period, however, as the Civil War began the next year after his marriage, and he felt it his duty to go to the defense of the Union. Accordingly, he enlisted in 1861 in the Missouri Volunteer Infantry, in which he served three years and six months. He was with his company in a number of battles, notably the one at Prairie Grove, Arkansas. He was once taken prisoner, but was exchanged a few days later and returned to his company.
After the war Mr. Smith located on a farm in this county, which he cultivated until 1882, then went to North Dakota, and from there to Evansville, Indiana, where he is now living. The mother died a num-
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ber of years ago. They had three daughters and five sons, all of whom are living.
Charles E. Smith was reared in Linn county from boyhood and educated in its district schools. After attaining his manhood he farmed for fourteen years in North Dakota, but in 1894 returned to this county and opened a general store at Shelby. After a few years he abandoned merchandising and again engaged in farming for some years, then once more became a merchant, which he has been ever since. He is enterprising and progressive in his business, studies the wants of his community and does all he can to fully provide for them by keeping his stock comprehensive and up to date, and he, furthermore, deals with all his patrons with the strictness, fairness and integrity, giving them ad- ditional satisfaction on this account.
In 1889 Mr. Smith was united in marriage with Miss Lizzie Mc- Ghee, a sister of William T. McGhee, a sketch of whom will be found elsewhere in this work. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have seven children: Ray, Julia, Edith, Scott, Daisy, Isabelle and Horace. The father is warmly attached to his home and his family, and gives his business the closest and most careful attention. But he also takes an earnest interest and an active part in the affairs of his township and county, and is always ready to aid in promoting their progress and improve- ment. He is everywhere, in all parts of the county, regarded as a good business man and a thoroughly representative and public-spirited citi- zen, and for all his excellent qualities and characteristics the residents of the county hold him in the highest esteem, good will and ap- probation.
DANIEL AMBS
If any person were to question the loyalty to the American Union of Daniel Ambs, one of the substantial and progressive farmers of Yel- low Creek township, as no one who knows him ever will, he could answer with great force and pertinency: "I was born under a foreign flag and came to this country when I was but twenty-two years old. I was a resident of the United States but seven years when I shouldered my musket and marched to the front with other volunteers to save the Union from dismemberment by the stern arbitrament of the sword, and in the momentous conflict that ensued I bore my share of the responsi- bility and performed my portion of the duty required without flinching or hesitation. I suffered the horrors of military imprisonment, and faced death on several of the historic battlefields of the Civil War. And
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ever since the 'battle flags were furled,' and the war drum ceased to throb, I have been engaged industriously in a pursuit of productive fruitfulness, which has given me opportunity to contribute essentially and directly to the welfare of the country and the benefit of all its people."
Mr. Ambs would not say this. With the genuine modesty of real merit, he is reticent about his own performances and achievements, and never blows his own horn. But it is all in his record, and he is entitled to full credit for it, and this is never withheld where he is known. Mr. Ambs was born in the city of Baden, grand duchy of the same name, in Germany, on April 21, 1832, and is a son of George and Mary Ann (Trinkley) Ambs, natives of the same place and belonging to families domesticated there for many generations.
Mr. Ambs grew to the age of twenty-two and obtained his educa- tion in his native land. In June, 1854, he came to the United States, the land of promise and opportunity for the masses of mankind in all other countries at that time, and at once took hold of the openings it offered for his advancement with the characteristic grip and persistent determination of his race. He landed in the city of New York and located in New Jersey, where he was employed on a farm for some- thing over three years.
But the small farming of the East in this country, intensive as it was, and highly profitable in many cases, owing to the abundance and activity of the markets in the big cities which abound in that region, did not satisfy his preconceived notions of American agricultural en- terprise, or his own desire for participation in work conducted on a large scale. Accordingly, in 1858 he moved to Illinois and took up his residence in a very productive region southwest of Chicago, but not very far distant from the great city. Openness and amplitude were still needed to meet the measure of his desires, and he did not find them where he was. So, in a short time he moved to Palmyra, in the prairie region of Macoupin county, and in the neighborhood of that city he lived until the beginning of the Civil War.
On July 22, 1861, under one of the early calls of President Lincoln for volunteers to take part in the defense of the Union, he enlisted in Company H, Tenth Missouri Volunteer Infantry, being enrolled in the city of St. Louis. His regiment was soon at the front and face to face with actual hostilities and all the horrors of the battlefield. He took part in the battles of Iuka, Corinth and Jackson, Mississippi, including the forty-seven days' siege of Vicksburg, and the previous long and
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trying march to that city, and that of Resaca, Georgia, at the last of which he was taken prisoner.
This was in the winter of 1864, but he secured his release soon after his capture and returned to his Palmyra, Illinois, home. A few months later he got his honorable discharge from the army in St. Louis, and then moved to this county, where he has ever since had his home and employed his energies. On his arrival in Linn county he resumed his farming operations, and from that time to the present has adhered to them, notwithstanding many strong temptations to turn aside to other pursuits, and has found them steadily and satisfactorily profitable.
He was married on January 27, 1873. Nine children have been born to him, all of whom are living they are: John, Anna, who is now the wife of Joseph Ott of Brookfield; Catherine, who is living at home with her parents; Josephine, the wife of Charles Groetecke of Brook- field; and Simon, Andrew, Theresa, James and Joseph, all of whom are still members of the parental household and sources of light and life in the parental family circle.
In national political affairs the father is a firm and faithful mem- ber of the Republican party. But in local matters he considers first the welfare of his township and county, and casts his ballot in accord- ance with his convictions in reference to that. In church affiliation he is a Catholic and an ardent and effective worker for the parish in which he resides. He is one of the sturdy, sterling and reliable citizens of Yellow Creek township and Linn county, and is everywhere recog- nized and esteemed as such.
JOHN J. BROWN (Deceased)
The late John J. Brown was a native of Linn county and became one of its leading farmers. He was born here on August 3, 1850, and died here, having passed the whole of his life in the county. He was earnestly interested and helpfully active in behalf of the progress and improvement of the region, showing himself to be a broad-minded, public-spirited and useful citizen, and his death was universally deplored.
Mr. Brown belonged to a distinguished family in this part of the state, his kin having given tone and character to the citizenship of the region, and trend and force to the development of its resources, and the establishment and early course of its civil, educational and moral
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY
institutions. He was a son of Thomas and Thusia (Jones) Brown, the former a native of Howard county, Missouri. The name of this family runs clear and strong through the early history of the county, its mem- bers were prominent in all the social, political and business avenues of life in the locality, and showed the caliber they possessed by the breadth and firmness of the foundations of civilization they helped to lay in this region.
John J. Brown grew to manhood in Linn county and obtained what education he was able to secure in the primitive country schools of his day, which were like schools on the frontier everywhere. He remained at home with his parents until he reached the age of twenty-three, when he began farming on his own account on land that was partially cleared, and which he lived on and cultivated nine years. In 1882 he moved to the farm he died on, which he improved to a great state of advancement and made very valuable. He kept adding to his original tract by subsequent purchases as he prospered in his business until he owned 480 acres, all fenced and under cultivation. He also engaged extensively in raising registered Shorthorn cattle and superior breeds of hogs, and was as progressive and successful in this department of his industry as he was in his farming operations, in which his success was extensive, positive and continued.
On March 5, 1873, Mr. Brown was united in marriage with Miss Mary E. Nevens, a daughter of Joseph T. and Elizabeth (Gooch) Nevens, who became early residents of Linn county. The father died here in 1888, but the mother is still living in the county. Mr. and Mrs. Brown became the parents of seven children, six of whom are living: Mary F., who is now the wife of Joseph Cornett; James L., William H., Lola I., who married Mr. Williams and resides in this county; and Ethel K., who is still at home with her mother on the family homestead.
During his life Mr. Brown was a member of the Christian church, to which his widow still belongs. In his political faith he trained with the Democratic party, and being a strong believer in its principles, gave them and its candidates strong and serviceable support on all oc- casions. He took an active part in public affairs, always on the side of progress and further development, and all his efforts in this behalf were vitalized by great energy and directed by intelligence and clear- ness of vision. His influence was considerable in local circles and in addition to what he did for the general welfare of his township and county himself, he produced good results from others by his persuasive- ness and the force of his stimulating example. The people everywhere respected him highly.
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