USA > Missouri > Macon County > General history of Macon County, Missouri > Part 34
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united in marriage with Miss Mallie Banta, a native of Macon county. They have had five children and have now three living, their daughters Bernice R., Lillian A. and Margery W. The people of the township esteem all the members of the family highly, and wherever they are known they are accounted as worthy of cordial regard and good will, and also as useful to their community and giving good examples of proper living in every respect.
JOHN M. LONDON.
V
Faithful to every call to duty in peace and war, true to the claims of private life and those of publie service, successful in his own busi- ness and devoted to the interests of the county and state in which he lives, John M. London of Callao has proven himself a very worthy, useful and influential citizen of Macon county, and has won by well demonstrated merit the prominence and distinction he enjoys. As a valiant soldier in defense of the Union during the Civil war he rendered excellent service to his country and sealed his devotion with his blood in two of the terrible battles of the conflict. As a public official he was capable and faithful in the discharge of his duties in every respect. As a journalist he gave voice to the sentiments of a large number of the people around him and direction to their expression in two useful newspapers which he founded and conducted for a number of years. And as a promoter, farmer and stock man of extensive operations he has not only acquired worldly substance for himself, but helped to magnify the wealth, business activity and commercial power of his section of the state.
Mr. London was born in Schuyler county, Missouri, on February 14, 1843. His father, William T. London, was a native of Alabama and came to Missouri and Macon county in 1857. He was a prominent farmer and merchant and an important factor in the public life of this portion of the country. By his marriage with Miss Priscilla Bailey, who was born and reared in Kentucky, he became the father of six children, all of whom are living. They are: Virginia, the wife of George Hicks of this county; Jolin M .; Franklin S .; Emma, the wife of Professor Ridgeway, superintendent of the public schools of Kansas City, Missouri; Susan F., the wife of Esquire Conrad of Sheridan county in this state, and William J. The father died in 1864 and the mother in 1894.
John M. London began his education in the district schools and completed it at-McGee College at College Mound, from which he was graduated in 1867, his attendance at this institution being prior to the
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Civil war. When that momentous and terrible conflict began he promptly enlisted in the Sixteenth Illinois infantry in defense of the Union, and some time later he helped to organize the Forty-Second Missouri regiment. His service throughout the contest was active and continuous, and he still bears on his person the marks of its ravages, having been seriously wounded at the battle of Shiloh and again in the siege of Vicksburg. He participated in every engagement fought by the Army of the Mississippi from the capture of Fort Donelson to the siege of Atlanta, and in many others of major or minor importance. He served as captain of Company E of the Tenth Missouri regiment and as adjutant of the Forty-Second. In the latter the position of lieutenant colonel was offered to him, but he declined to accept it ont of deference to Colonel Forbes. After the close of the war he returned to Macon county.
In 1866 he was elected clerk and recorder for Macon county for a term of four years, which he filled with great credit to himself and acceptability to the people. In 1867, in association with John T. Clements, he founded the Macon Journal, which he conducted until 1876. He then founded The Greenback, an independent paper, and this he published until 1878, when he was nominated as the candidate of his party to represent the district in Congress. He was unsuccessful at the election owing to the large preponderance of the opposing party, and after that for a time gave his attention wholly to the management of the Farmers' Alliance, of which he was chairman.
He then determined to give more attention to his private interests and in 1885 organized the Stean-London Trust Company of Macon, which he conducted alone until 1890, when he took Oswell Hicks, in as a partner, and during the next two years they managed the affairs of the company together. In 1892 he turned the company over to Mr. Hicks and began to give his whole energy to the cultivation of his farm of 640 acres and the management of his extensive live stock interests, which he has owned since 1885. The farm is highly developed and well improved, and both its operations and the stock industry connected with it are conducted with skill and enterprise of the highest order.
Mr. London is still chairman of the Farmers' Union of Missouri, and in fraternal life he is connected with the Order of Odd Fellows and the Grand Army of the Republic, in all of which he takes a very active and serviceable interest. In 1867 he was married to Miss Mannie Fletcher, a native of Shelbyville, Tennessee. They have six children, Harold, Kate, Lee, Daisy, Ruth and Helen. In his private affairs and in connection with every public duty Mr. London has given to the
F. THEO. MAYHEW
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world a fine example of the sweep and resourcefulness of American enterprise, and in all respects he is deservedly conspicuous as one of the best types of Missouri citizenship. Measuring his success by the ordinary standards it has been great and continued. Applying to it the test promulgated by Emerson, who said that the only real success was to work in the right direction, it has been eminent, commanding and without a variation from its proper course. And a very gratifying circumstance in connection with it is the fact that he is highly appreciated by the people of Missouri and enjoys in a marked degree their universal esteem and commendation. Mr. London was the pro- jector of the Macon, Chariton drainage canal, and gave five years of labor and a large amount of money on it, and which has promise of great benefit to these counties.
F. THEODORE MAYHEW.
Pure, constant and noble was the spiritual flame that burned and illumined the mortal tenement of the honored subject of this brief memori. He was a man of the loftiest principles, of strong intellectual powers, and was not only a successful business man, but also rendered a service of zeal and consecration as a minister of the Christian church. He was long numbered among the most influential and honored citizens of. Macon county and maintained his home in Bevier until the time of his death, which occurred on the 27th of February, 1906. His memory is revered by all who remain to have remembrance of his gentle and noble life and who came within the sphere of his gracious and helpful influence.
F. Theodore Mayhew was born in Jefferson county, Indiana, in the year 1841, and was a son of Benjamin and Eleuder Mayhew, who removed from the Hoosier state to Tennessee when he was a boy. His father was a native of New Jersey and a member of a family whose name has been identified with the annals of American history from the early colonial era. In 1859 the family came to Missouri and located in Macon county, where the father engaged in agricultural pursuits and also became a teacher in the common schools. Both of the parents continued to maintain their home in this state until the close of their lives and both were earnest members of the Christian church. They became the parents of five children, of whom the subject of this memoir was the eldest, and of the number three are now living.
F. Theodore Mayhew attended school but a little in Tennessee and his naturally alert and receptive mind enabled him to effectually supplement this discipline through well-directed reading and study in
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later years. He became a man of broad information and no little erudiction, and he labored successfully as a teacher in the public schools of Missouri for a quarter of a century, having been eighteen years of age at the time of his parents' removal to this state. Those who had the benefit of his careful and able instruction during his years of devo- tion to the pedagogic profession feel a debt of gratitude for his faithful labors in their behalf, as well as for the kindly sympathy which he ever manifested. During a period of forty years he also was a minister of the Christian church, and he labored with much of zeal and intel- lectual force for the uplifting and bettering of his fellow-inen. His sermons gave evidence of his earnest convictions and thus carried weight and conviction to his hearer. He ministered in isolated com- munities in the early days and also did pastoral work in more impor- tant charges, ever showing a highi sense of his stewardship and making his influence felt for good in all the relations of his daily life. As a business man he was successful, and for a number of years prior to his demise lie was associated with his only son in the general merchan- dise business in Bevier, where he established his home in the year 1902.
In politics Mr. Mayhew was aligned as a staunch and intelligent advocate of the principles and policies for which the Republican party stands sponsor, and he rendered effective service in the promotion of the party cause. He was twice the nominee of his party for rep- resentative in the state legislature, but was unable to overcome the normal Democratic majority in his county and thus met defeat. He was public-spirited and liberal as a citizen and business man, and ever showed a deep interest in all that tended to conserve the welfare and progress of his home city and county, where his circle of friends was limited only by that of his acquaintances. His widow still maintains her home in Bevier and is loved by all who know her. She finds a due measure of solace in the hallowed associations and memories of the past and in the companionship and solicitude of friends who are tried and true.
In July, 1869, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Mayhew to Miss Kate W. Ballenger, who was born in Macon county, Missouri, and who is a daughter of John Ballenger, a substantial citizen of that county. Two children were born of this union-Julia A., who is now the wife of James F. Harrison, of Callao, Missouri, and Ivy G., who continues the mercantile business in which he was associated with his father and who is the subject of an individual sketch in this volume. An adopted daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Mayhew is Etta J., whose maiden name was Corbin, and who is now the wife of Willard Buster. of Bneklin, Missouri.
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JOHN WILLIAM OWEN.
Although he is a native of Missouri and has lived in Macon county during all of his mature life, with an abiding and helpful interest in its welfare and the comfort and advancement of its people, Jolin William Owen of Lingo township has seen life in other states and under very different circumstances from those which now surround him. The horse and cattle ranches of Montana engaged his attention and secured his services in his youth and young manhood, and on them he learned what it is to depend on oneself and be ready for fast-coming emer- gencies. In the trying experiences of that engagement he also acquired endurance and a thorough mastery of his own faculties and capabilities, and the acquistions have been of great value to him in all his subsequent career.
Mr. Owen was born in Randolph county, this state, on June 4, 1877, and is a son of William Edward and Nancy (Cluton) Owen, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Missouri but of Missouri parentage. The father, whose ancestors were pioneers in Kentucky and helped to civilize and develop that state, was a farmer's son and has passed all the years of his activity in the paternal occupation. He lived in California fifteen years, and freighted and raised live stock there, as he had done in his native state, and as he has done during the thirty-eight years of his residence in Missouri. He came to this state in 1872 and located in Randolph county on a large farm. There he carried on extensively, farming 800 to 1200 acres of land and con- ducting a stock industry of commensurate proportions. In 1899 he moved his family to Macon county, and here he continued his oper- ations in farming and raising stock on the same scale. He and his wife are still living in this county. They are the parents of two children, their sons John William and Robert Lee.
The father is a Democrat in politics and is at all times active in the service of his party. He has long been favorably known, also, for his energy, zeal and intelligence in helping to promote the advancement of the locality of his home and the substantial welfare of its people. He rendered excellent service as a member of the school board for a number of years. and from his early manhood has been a member of the Order of Odd Fellows. He is now one of the oldest members of the order in the state. For many years he has also been active and effective in the service of the Christian church, to which he has long given his useful and valued membership. He and his wife are among
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the most esteemed citizens of the county, and are well worthy of the regard the people bestow upon them.
Their son John W. began his education in the district schools of Randolph county and completed it at Hatton College. After leaving school he worked with his father on the home farm for a short time. At the age of eighteen he went to Montana and there passed three years in the difficult and exacting work on horse and cattle ranches. In 1898 he returned to Missouri and began farming and raising stock on his own account. He continued his operations in these lines of endeavor until 1907, when he determined to devote his energies to buying and ship- ping stock, and he is now one of the most extensive dealers and shippers in the county, and the most extensive in Lingo township. His home is in the neighborhood of New Cambria.
He also is an active, working Democrat, but has always refused to accept a political office either by election or appointment. His fra- ternal relations are with the Order of Modern Woodmen and the Order of Odd Fellows, and in religious affiliation he is connected with the Christian church.
Mr. Owen's marriage occurred in 1899 and was with Miss Victoria Streiff, a native of Huntsville, Randolph county, Missouri. They have two children, their daughter Thelma, who is now (1910) nine years old, and their son Percy, who is seven. While the father's interests are extensive and his business is exacting, he has not allowed them to wholly absorb his time or his energies. As every good citizen should, he takes an earnest interest and a leading part in helping to promote the development and improvement of his township and county and the welfare of their people. He is energetic in the service of every worthy enterprise in which these are involved, and his counsel is valued as much for its wisdom as his zeal is for its effectiveness. No citizen stands higher in the estimation of the peole, and none is more entitled to their regard and good will. He is loyal to state and nation and true to all the duties of upright and commendable citizenship, and he conducts his business in a way that has given him an excellent reputa- tion and helped to win Macon county the confidence and esteem of the business world wherever the products of her soil or the fruits of her industries are sold.
JOHN L. TERRELL.
This esteemed citizen and successful and progressive farmer of Callao township represents the third generation of his family that has lived in Macon county and worked for its advancement and devel-
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opment to the highest standard of excellence, and he is also an acknowledged representative of its people in their industry, thrift, enterprise and elevated citizenship. He was born in this county in 1863 and is a son of Rhuben H. and Priscilla (Hegwood) Terrell, who were also born and reared in Macon county.
They were the parents of three children: Allie, the widow of the late Richard Teeters; John L., who is the immediate subject of these paragraphs, and Mary E. Their mother died in 1864, and the father married a second wife, being nnited on this occasion with Miss Eliza- . beth Vass, also a native of Macon county. Of the six children born of this union five are living: Wilbert F., Robert O., Clyde B., Thomas, and Maude A., who is the wife of Luther Roberts. The father is still living on his farm near Keota and is now seventy-five years of age. Highly esteemed as a citizen, successful in his business and revered for his zealous interest in the welfare of the county, he is regarded as one of the most useful and representative men among its people.
John L. Terrell obtained his education in the district schools and at a graded school in the city of Macon. He was obliged early in life to begin making his own way in the world, and after leaving school hired out as a farm hand in Illinois, his compensation at the start being only twenty-five cents a day. But he was frugal and thrifty, and knowing that his only dependence for success in life was himself, he applied all his energies to whatever his hands found to do, and gave strong indications of what was in him and what he was likely to make of himself. After working as a farm hand in Illinois for three years, he returned to Macon county and began farming for himself in Morrow township, where he lived until 1892.
In that year he moved to Callao township, and here he has ever since resided. He has become more and more extensively engaged in farm- ing and raising live stock as the years have passed, and now owns 360 acres of land, all of which is under vigorous and skillful eulti- vation except what is reserved for grazing purposes for his large herds and flocks. The farm is improved with good buildings and equipped with every appliance required to carry on its operations in the most approved and progressive manner. Mr. Terrell has been very suc- cessful in all his undertakings and all that he has and is he has wrung from opposing circumstances by his own ability and energy. He is president of the Callao Fair association of which he was one of the founders and has been one of the most energetic promoters. The association is prosperous under his management and has a high rank among institutions of its character in this part of the country.
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In political alliance Mr. Terrell is connected with the Democratic party and is one of its most constant and effective workers in Macon county. He served on the school board for a period of over six years and gave the people excellent service in connection with one of their most valued public institutions, being always a warm friend of the cause of public education. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Modern Woodman and the Royal Neighbors. In 1888 he was married to Miss Etliel C. Morrow, a native of Morrow township in this county. They have three children, their son Grover C. and their daughters Neva I. and Nellie I. The parents are regarded as among the most worthy and estimable residents of Macon county.
BENJAMIN E. WILLIAMS.
The life-story of Benjamin E. Williams, one of the progressive and successful farmers, stock men and merchants of Macon connty, whose base of operations is in White township and whose mercantile enterprise is located in the town of Ethel, is the many times repeated tale of a man transplanted in his childhood to a new country, then largely undeveloped and presenting many obstacles to progress. The rest of it, in ontline, at least, is easily inferred from his present pros- perity and standing. He accepted the opportunities which came to liim and made the most of them. His own ready brain, strong arm and confidence in himself were his main dependencies, and from early man- lood he has used them to his own advantage and for the general welfare in promoting the interests of the community of his home.
Mr. Williams was born in the state of Ohio in 1859 and was brought to Missouri by his parents when he was but three years old. This state was then suffering all the evil effects of the Civil war, and all its industries were prostrate and inert. He obtained what education he could in the district schools of the day, which owing to the disturbed condition of the locality, because of the irregular and predatory war which ravaged it, was necessarily limited and very incomplete. As soon as he was able he turned his attention to farming on his own account, and in this industry, coupled with general stock-raising, he was almost exclusively engaged until 1882. In that year he became a merchant, and ever since he has been actively and profitably connected with mercantile life. He owns 500 acres of superior land, which he has brought to a high state of productiveness and improved with good buildings, making it one of the most valuable and attractive farms in White township. His interests as a merchant are also extensive and productive, and his stock industry is condneted with a vigor and care-
1
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ful attention to details that assures success in all it aims at. He is also one of the directors and the vice-president of the Bank of Ethel, and takes a decided interest in everything that contributes to the general improvement and progress of the township and county in which he lives and carries on his fruitful operations.
While he has often been solicited to accept public office and always resisted importunities on the subject, he has at all times been actively and intelligently interested in public affairs and done his part towards giving them proper direction and seeking to lead them to the best results for the good of all the people. His fraternal relations are with the Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America, and in religious connection is a member of the Presbyterian church. In his lodges and his church he is cordially interested and his member- ship in all the organizations to which he belongs is valued highly. In business he stands well as a representative of the most approved modern business methods. As a farmer he holds a leading rank in his township, as a stock man he has a wide-spread and excellent reputation, and as a citizen no man in the township in which he has his home is more generally or more highly esteemed. In reference to his career and his standing he has the modesty of real merit, and does not care to have his praises sounded abroad. But discriminating observers rank him as one of the best, most useful and most repre- sentative men in Macon county, and the truthful biographer has no right and no wish to withhold from him anything that belongs to him in the way of commendation. His life furnishes an excellent example to young men and can be imitated by them with great advantage to themselves.
FRANCIS MARION SEARS.
Francis Marion Sears, one of the veteran merchants of Macon county and high on the list of the leading citizens of Ethel and White townships, is the son of very early pioneers in this part of the state, and lived himself, in his boyhood and youth, amid the scenes, dangers, hardships and arduous struggles of frontier life. He was born in Easely township, Macon county, on July 25, 1845, and is a son of John Joseph and Elizabeth (Kirby) Sears, the former a native of Kentucky; born in 1800, and the latter of the same state. The father came to Mis- souri and Macon county in 1821. IIe took up a tract of wild land and did well his part in redeeming the region from the wilderness, ridding it of its savage denizens of forest and plain, man and beast, reducing it to productiveness, and founding upon it the forms, governing powers and
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restraining influences of civilization. He helped to sow in it the seeds of progress, improvement and development, and start it in the career which has resulted in its present high state of cultivation and mercantile and commercial greatness.
John Joseph Sears and his wife were the parents of ten children, only two of whom are now living, James M., of La Plata, and Francis M., of Ethel. The father died in 1866 and the mother in 1888. But in their long career of usefulness in this region they put forces in motion which have resulted in great good to it and proven to be forceful fac- tors in all that has occurred in it since they laid down their trust. Here is one instance, at least, in which the good done by faithful work- ers lives after them and not "interred with their bones."
Their son, Francis, enjoyed very meager and irregular oppor- tunities for scholastic training. The schools of his boyhood and youth in this locality were few and it was far between them. And those which were in operation lasted only during the winter months and were primitive and limited in the scope of their instructions. But such as they were, Mr. Sears attended them as much and as regularly as he could, and made the most of the advantages they gave him. After leav- ing school he remained at home and assisted his father in the work on the farm for a number of years, and then began farming on his own account. He continued his connection with this occupation until 1899, when he engaged in the furniture trade, with which he has ever since been actively and extensively connected.
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