Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. I, Part 20

Author: Conard, Howard Louis, ed. 1n
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: New York, Louisville [etc.] The Southern history company, Haldeman, Conard & co., proprietors
Number of Pages: 856

USA > Missouri > Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. I > Part 20

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BAKERSFIELD-BALDWIN.

W. O. Parke, of Galena, Kansas. Of this marriage a daughter, Edith Baker, has been born. Mr. Baker is a fine representative of the youthful energy and determination which has developed and brought to the attention of the financiers of the world, the richest and most productive of mineral regions. In local mat- ters, he is public-spirited and liberal, giving personal effort and means freely to the ad- vancement of all laudable enterprises.

Bakersfield .- A village in the south- eastern part of Ozark County, twenty miles from Gainesville, and twenty-three miles from WVest Plains, in Howell County, the nearest railroad point. It has two flouring mills, two hotels, several stores in different branches of trade, two weekly newspapers, the "Informer" and the "Boomerang," both published by Walter H. Robinson. There is a good school and two churches. Population, 1899 (esti- mated), 300.

Bakewell, Robert Armytage, law- yer and jurist, was born in Edinburgh, Scot- land, in 1826. His father was an Episcopal clergyman, who for many years filled a pastor- ate at Norwich, England, and there the son obtained his early education. While still a youth, he came to the United States and con- tinued his scholastic studies at the Western University of Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated in the class of 1845. Being in- clined then to follow in the footsteps of his father and enter the Episcopal ministry, he went to the General Theological Seminary of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in New York, and took a three years' divinity course at that institution. In 1848, however, he was swept into the Catholic Church by what has been termed "the wave of Newmanism," which swept over the seminary at that time, and thus was carried away from the calling for which he had fitted himself. For a time after leaving the theological school he was pro- fessor of Greck and Latin in a newly estab- lished college at Rochester. New York, and after that he was connected with journalism, first in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and then in St. Louis. Meantime he studied law, and in 1855 began the practice of his profession in that city. He was at first associated with P. Banduy Garesche, and later with E. T. Farish, and during more than twenty years of active practice at the bar of St. Louis he was known

as a conscientious devotee to his profession. Broadened by years of experience, in the course of which he had demonstrated his fit- ness for the exercise of the highest judicial functions, he was appointed by Governor Hardin a member of the St. Louis Court of Appeals when that court was created by legis- lative enactment in 1875. The act creating this court-which was designed to relieve the Supreme Court of Missouri of a portion of its labors and responsibilities-provided that the terms for which the first judges were ap- pointed should expire January 1, 1877, and that their successors should be chosen at the general election of November, 1876. At this election Judge Bakewell was chosen to the bench of the Court of Appeals by the people, and at the subsequent adjustment of terms by lot the eight-year term fell to him. He served thereafter until January of 1885, when he retired with the enviable record of having been not only a just and upright jurist but a broad-minded and able administrator of the law. HIe is now-1899-the only surviving member of the court as at first constituted, and since he left the bench has led a some- what retired life. Judge Bakewell married, May 3, 1853, Miss Marie Anne Coudroy de Laurcal, whose family came to St. Louis in 1848. Mrs. Bakewell was born May 26, 1832, at Guadaloupe, in the West Indies, of French parents. Her father was a wealthy planter, and she was reared in luxury and educated at the family seat in Versailles, near Paris, France. When France summarily abolished slavery in her colonies, in 1848, the act wrought the ruin of the West Indian planters, and it was this misfortune which brought the de Laurcal family to the United States and St. Louis. Eight children have been born to Judge and Mrs. Bakewell, all of whom were living in 1899.

Baladan .- See "Indian Springs."

Baldwin, James Andrew, a promi- nent physician of Platte City, was born April 12, 1847, in Platte County, Missouri, and is the only living child of Dr. William and Ann Letitia (Johnson) Baldwin. He was reared in his native county, and there began his educa- tion in the common schools, afterward taking an academical course in the Gaylord Insti- tute. At the age of eighteen years he began reading medicine under his accomplished

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father, and for three years and eight months devoted himself to his books and to oral in- struction for nine hours daily, but few days of idleness intermitting. With this methodical and long-continued study he was well quali- fied for practice, but he took a regular two- term course in the medical department of the University of Louisville, Kentucky, and was graduated from that institution March 2, 1869. He practiced for six months at Minneapolis, Minnesota, but finding the climate too rigor- ous for comfort, he removed to Spring Hill, Kansas, where he remained for seven years, and built up an excellent practice. He then embraced an opportunity to succeed Dr. F. M. Johnson, at Platte City, Missouri, who was de- sirous of removing elsewhere, and entered upon the practice in which he is yet engaged, standing with the leaders of the profession in knowledge, skill and natural aptitude for all departments of general medicine and surgery. During his residence in Kansas he was a mem- ber of the State Medical Society, and for some years secretary of the Johnson County and the Miami County Medical Societies, and he has been treasurer of the Platte County Medical Society from its organization. He has served several terms as a member of the city council of Platte City, and is the present president of that body. He has also served as health offi- cer at various times. Warmly interested in educational affairs, he has been a member of the Board of Education for fifteen years past, and is the present vice president. He was a charter member of Platte City Lodge, No. 504. Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and has attained to the commandery degrees ; he is also an Odd Fellow, and is treasurer of all these bodies. In religion he is a Presbyterian, and in politics a Democrat. Dr. Baldwin married Miss Minnie Redman, October 1, 1878. She was a daughter of Dr. Elias C. Redman, a most capable physician, who entered upon practice in Platte City somewhat later than Dr. William Baldwin; she was educated at the Daughters' College, Platte City, and is a mem- ber of the Christian Church. Two children were born of the marriage. Dixie was edu- cated at the Gaylord Institute, Platte City, and at the Christian College, Columbia, being a graduate of the latter institution. She is well versed in music, but has special talent for painting and drawing, and at her graduation ranked immediately after the two prize-win- ners ; she took a special art course in 1898-9 in

the art department of the State University. William Redman has been a student at Gay- lord Institute, at Kemper Military School, and at Blees Military Academy. Dr. Baldwin has for many years given intelligent attention to prehistoric relics, and his collection of Indian antiquities. weapons and domestic articles of stone is the most complete in Platte County.

Baldwin, William, an early and promi- nent physician of Platte County, was born March 4, 1813, at Washington, Mason County, Kentucky. Ilis parents were James and Saralı (llarris) Baldwin. The father was born at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and became an early settler in Kentucky; his mother and the mother of General Albert Sidney Johnston were sisters. James Baldwin married Sarah Harris, descended from a Scotch family which settled at Charlestown, Massachusetts, prior to the Revolutionary War. Her father, Edward Harris, made gunpowder used by the patriots at the battle of Bunker Hill, and his mortar is now in St. Paul, Minnesota, in possession of Miss Sarah Webb, one of his descendants. Ile became the first postmaster of Washington, Kentucky, appointed by President George Washington. A son of James and Sarah Bald- win was James H. Baldwin, a distinguished lawyer, and a partner and brother-in-law of Colonel Alexander W. Doniphan. The oldest son, William Baldwin, received his literary ed- ucation in the University of Ohio, and studied medicine in the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia, graduating from the latter with honors. At a later time the University of Ohio conferred upon him an honorary degree. For three years following his graduation he practiced at Wetumpka, Alabama. Desirous of perma- nent establishment in Missouri, he visited St. Louis, and was warmly solicited to remain in that vicinity by his kinsman, Albert Sidney Johnston, then a lieutenant in the army, sta- tioned at Jefferson Barracks, but continued his journey to Martinsville, Platte County. under the influence of his brother, James H. Bald- win, already established in that region. For nearly thirty years following lie practiced at Platte City, and was known throughout the Missouri Valley for his eminent professional ability, which enabled him to acquire high honor and generous means. His scholarly at- tainments in the fields of history, philosophy, science and general literature were equally am-

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ple, and association with him was eagerly sought by the best informed residents and travelers. An earnest advocate of liberal edu- cation, he was a moving spirit in the founding of the Platte City Male Academy, the first local institution of its kind, in 1851, and was one of its incorporators. In 1845 he married Miss Ann L. Johnson, daughter of Captain Andrew Johnson, of Kentucky. Captain Johnson commanded a mounted rifle com- pany at the battles of the Raisin and of the Thames during the War of 1812. In 1837 he was Indian agent at St. Louis, and in 1838 he visited the Platte region and entered land at Pleasant Ridge. He had served as a repre- sentative in the Kentucky Legislature, and he was a State Senator in Missouri in 1844, the first from the Platte County district. Mrs. Baldwin died November 29, 1852, leaving a son, James Andrew Baldwin ; a daughter died at the age of three years, previous to the death of the mother. Dr. Baldwin married Miss Harriet Gage, a native of New Jersey, about 1858. A son born of this marriage, William Baldwin, died at the age of four years. In 1868 Dr. Baldwin removed to St. Paul, Minne- sota, where he died January 19, 1886. He was actively engaged in his profession until shortly before his death, and was endeared to his as- sociates for the same marked traits which made him a favorite at his former home, and he occupied various honorable and responsible positions in professional bodies.

Bales, Walter, a pioneer settler, whose farm embraced many acres of the land now within the corporate limits of Kansas City, was born in the eastern part of Tennessee in 1803. In 1831 he came to Missouri and lo- cated in the western part of the State. He was married, in 1832, to Sarah Jolinson, and the same year purchased the farm of her father, John Johnson, Sr., little realizing that upon his possessions would spring up a city of marvelous growth and development. There were then a number of farms held by the mem- bers of the Johnson family, upon which now stand stately buildings and miles of palatial residences. The one purchased by Walter Bales from his father-in-law, who died in 1832, a few months after the transfer was made. in- cluded the land now bounded by Porter Road. Bellefontaine Street, Independence Avenue and Seventeenth Street. Kansas City was then unknown. The hills which were afterward re-

duced by the hand of civilization, and the hol- lows filled in to make room for structures of a modern city, were unmarked by civilization. The country was a vast stretch of elevations and depressions, mantled with heavy timber. A few white families had settled in the coun- try at the time Mr. Bales was married, but when his wife came to western Missouri, in 1825, her family was the first of the race to take up a permanent abode within the limits of the present Jackson County and engage in farming. This is, therefore, one of the real pioneer families of the State, and its members are among the most prominent and highly re- spected of the community in whose develop- ing affairs they have figured so conspicuously. Mrs. Bales was born in west Tennessee in 1808, and with her father and brothers came to Missouri in 1815, ten years later, entering the land upon which a part of Kansas City now stands. In that year even Independence, one of the oldest towns in the State, was just be- ginning to see the first white "campers," as they halted on their long journeys in search of homes, and prepared to found a settlement on the fertile land which skirts the Blue River. The Indians were numerous, neigh- bors were far apart, and the scene was one of lonesome wildness. The Johnsons drove live stock as they proceeded on their way and searched for suitable ranges on which to feed their cattle. They crossed Blue River south of Westport. In the latter part of 1825 and in 1826 other pioneers arrived and proceeded to prepare homes for themselves and families. The ancestry of the Johnson family has been traced back by one of its members about four hundred years, and it is found to be of Scotch descent. Walter Bales was an active. indus- trious man. During the first year of his resi- dence in Missouri he was employed by others. After his purchase of the Johnson farm he put all of his best efforts into improving the prop- erty which he had acquired, and was one of the most influential figures in the early life of Jackson County and Kansas City. The old homestead stood at what is now the corner of Fourteenth Street and Benton Boulevard, and when it was torn down a few years ago was nearly sixty years old. In the early days the Bales home was a landmark. a familiar spot. The influence exerted by the head of the fam- ily, his abilities as a counselor and advisor, his willingness to assist the one in trouble and to lighten the burdens of the oppressed, made

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him a man much sought after. Honesty was the ruling characteristic of the pioneer. In- dustry and strict integrity marked the daily lives of the carly settlers. Troubles between men were few, but when disputes arose Mr. Bales was frequently called into service as ar- bitrator. He was well read in law, and for over twenty years was a magistrate in Kaw Township. For about seven years, in the fif- ties, he served as county judge, and his public duties were always as faithfully attended to as were his private affairs. As a business man he was active and progressive, his dealings being marked by strict honesty and a careful observ- ance of the rules of integrity, as they were faithfully observed in the good old pioneer days. He was a true friend of the school sys- tem and for many years served as school di- rector in Jackson County. As an evidence of his faith in the future of Kansas City, and his willingness to assist in the promotion of en- terprises looking toward the advancement of the city, it may be cited that his was the first signature attached to the petition in which Thomas Corrigan asked for the franchise per- mitting the construction of the Twelfth Street cable line in Kansas City. Politically he was a Whig, and after the dissolution of that party exercised a degree of independence from party

lines. Mr. Bales died in August, 1887, leav- ing a family eminently capable of caring for the large estate which he had accumulated during his years of successful effort. Prior to his death he had sold eighty acres of the land which embraced so large a portion of the ground upon which Kansas City stands, and the remainder was left to his family, composed as follows : John, formerly a farmer near Bel- ton, Missouri, now a retired resident of that place and a most influential man ; William, ac- tively identified with the real estate interests of Kansas City ; Samuel H., a resident of Kan- sas City, and one of its most public-spirited men; J. E., whose handsome home on East Twelfth Street, in Kansas City, adjoins that of his brother, Samuel, and who is in close rela- tion with the latter in business transactions and matters affecting the interests of the es- tate : Mary E., who makes her home with her brother, Samuel H. ; and Walter, a resident of Wyoming. Walter J. Bales, a son of William, is one of the foremost representatives of the real estate and insurance interests of Kansas City. Bales Chapel, a cozy structure for re- ligious worship, which stands near the home

of Samuel Bales, on East Twelfth Street, in Kansas City, was erected by him, with the co- operation of Mary E. Bales, in 1890. There was then no church in that part of the city, and the chapel supplied a real want. The Chris- tian denomination used the building for five years, and in 1895 the owners deeded it, with- out cost, to the Baptist Church, with which they are identified. The wife of the subject of this sketch died May 12, 1893, after a con- tinuous residence in Missouri of sixty-eight

years. She was one of a noble family, a true Missouri pioneer. The Johnsons had lived in Cole County for about ten years previous to their removal to Jackson County in 1825. Robert Johnson, a brother of Mrs. Bales, was a member of the Missouri Legislature about 1828. Samuel Johnson was a well known jus- tice of the peace, and Charles Johnson was the first captain of State militia in Jackson County.

Ball, David Alexander, lawyer, ex- Lieutenant Governor and ex-State Senator of Missouri, was born in Lincoln County, Mis- souri, June 18, 1851, son of John E. and Eliza- beth (Dyer) Ball. Early in the settlement of America an English family named Ball set- tled in the Virginias. James Ball, who was born in Fauquier County, Virginia, was a de- scendant of this family. There he married Miss Mary Smith, also descended from an old Virginia family, and a native of Fauquier County. James Ball was a plantation owner and reared a family of six children, three sons and three daughters. In 1840 he left his na- tive place and, with his family, located on a farm near Bridgeton, Missouri, where he died in 1850. His second son was John E. Ball, who was born in Fauquier County, Virginia, in 1824. Ile removed with the family from Virginia to Missouri, and is a veteran of both the Mexican and the Civil War. In the Mex- ican War he served under General Sterling Price. In 1861, when the war of the rebellion broke out, though a native Virginian, his sym- pathies were with the Union, and he organized a military company, with which he was con- nected for two years ; then he joined the Forty- ninth Missouri and was soon promoted to the rank of captain. He, with his company, was engaged in a number of skirmishes and bat- tles, among others, the defense of Spanish Fort and Fort Blakely. In 1850, after he had returned from the Mexican War, he married Elizabeth Dyer, daughter of David and Nancy

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(Sammons) Dyer, and a sister of David P. Dyer, prominent among the members of the St. Louis bar. Of this union nine children were born, David .A., Nettie, James F., John B. M., Galen R .. Claude R., Laura, William S., and Edward. The father of Mrs. Ball, David Dyer, was a volunteer in the War of 1812, was prominent in Virginia as a Whig, and served both in the upper and lower houses of the Virginia Assembly. In 1844 he re- moved with his family to Missouri and took up his residence in Lincoln County. His wife, who was Miss Nancy Sammons, was a native of Henry County, Virginia; she was a noble woman and a member of the Baptist Church. David Alexander Ball was the eldest child of John E. and Elizabeth Ball, both of whom are living in Montgomery County, and his boy- hood days were spent on his father's farm, where his muscles, as well as his brain, re- ceived such exercise as tended toward sub- stantial development. He attended the country schools under difficulties, having to walk from three to five miles. He was studious and had the ability to easily grasp and retain such rudi- ments of knowledge as the schools and study at home afforded. At the age of seventeen years, notwithstanding the meager schooling he had received, he was equipped for teaching school, and served one term as a country school teacher. After remaining two years longer on his father's farm he went to Louisiana, Pike County, where he attended the public schools for two terms, sustaining himself in the mean- time by working in A. Tinsley & Co.'s tobacco factory and utilizing the spare moments in ac- quiring the fundamental principles of law. Leaving school he studied law in the office of Fagg & Dyer, and in May, 1873, was admitted to the practice of law by Judge Porter Gil- christ. In 1874 he was elected city attorney of Louisiana and served in that capacity one year. In 1878 he was elected prosecuting at- torney of Pike County, and re-elected at the end of his term. His record as prosecuting attorney is without a blemish. Of the many indictments he formulated and presented not one was quashed. In 188| he was elected to the State Senate from the Eleventh District, comprised of the counties of Andrain, Pike and Lincoln, and during the first session in which he served he demonstrated his ability as a statesman, and made such an excellent re- cord that in 1887 his colleagues made him president of the Senate. Ile proved himself

a highly capable presiding officer, just, and at the same time firm to a degree that com- manded the admiration and respect of his fel- low Senators. In 1887 Governor John E. Marmaduke died, and Senator Ball became Lieutenant Governor, which office he occu- pied until 1889. As a member of the upper house of the Missouri Legislature he acquired high reputation as a leader and an able and eloquent supporter of measures he deemed important for the public good. He was the author of a number of bills which became laws, and also of the important bill providing for uniform text-books for schools, which he put through the Senate, but which failed of passage in the House. He labored with ear- nestness and success in securing equitable and much needed railroad legislation, and was prominent as a leader in the support of other measures of benefit to the State. He was chairman of the committee to visit State insti- tutions, and by his recommendation the State Insane Asylum at Nevada was established. While always an active politician, Governor Ball can not be accused of being an office seeker. He is a natural political leader, ever active in campaigns, and his influence is felt in every part of the State. He has held nu- merous honorary positions in his party, and for years there have been few Democratic con- ventions, either of his State, district or county, to which he has not been a delegate. In 1882 he was elected a member of the State Demo- cratic committee, and was made a member of the executive committee of that body, and through his efficient work in that capacity a solid Democratic delegation was elected to Congress. In 1896, through the efforts of his friends, he was induced to become a candidate for Governor, and failed by only a few votes of nomination. Again in 1900, urged by his friends he became a candidate for the same office, and though there was bright promise of success at the convention, early in the cam- paign he withdrew from the field, so as to give no occasion for other than the greatest har- mony in the party which he has so faithfully served. Later in the same year he was chosen one of the four delegates at large from Mis- souri to the Democratic National Convention and took a prominent part in the deliberations of the historie assemblage which met at Kansas City. Missouri, July 4th, and nominated Wil- liam Jennings Bryan and Adlai E. Stevenson for President and Vice President, respectively,

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of the United States. The personality of Mr. Ball is notable. His integrity, honesty and faithfulness to duty has never been questioned. He is pre-eminently a Missourian, one wlio despises all that is not honorable. He is a man who has advanced by overcoming many obstacles, and fills a place before the people of the State which he has gained by merit alone. When a young man, as heretofore mentioned, he worked in the large tobacco factory of. A. Tinsley & Co., to support himself while at- tending school and studying law. He gained the confidence of his employers then, and they are still his employers, and for many years he has been their legal representative. Through- out Missouri he is noted both as a criminal and civil lawyer. With Nat Dryden, deceased, he ably and successfully defended Dr. Hearne, who was charged with the murder of million- aire Amos Stillwell, at Hannibal, Missouri. His first law partnership was with Honorable Champ Clark, now a leading member of Con- gress. Later, in 1891, he became associated with his old preceptor, ex-Supreme Judge Thomas J. C. Fagg. He is now associated with Samuel Sparrow, under the firm name of Ball & Sparrow. He is a member of the Masonic and other fraternal orders. May 13, 1875, he was married to Miss Jessie Minor, daughter of Samuel O. and Elizabeth (Carter) Minor. Mrs. Ball was born in Pike County, and both her parents were natives of Virginia. They have no children. Governor and Mrs. Ball are both members of the Methodist Epis- copal Church, South.

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Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. I, Part 20

Author: Conard, Howard Louis, ed. 1n Publication date: 1901 Publisher: New York, Louisville [etc.] The Southern history company, Haldeman, Conard & co., proprietors Number of Pages: 856

Author: Conard, Howard Louis, ed. 1n
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: New York, Louisville [etc.] The Southern history company, Haldeman, Conard & co., proprietors
Number of Pages: 856