USA > Missouri > Macon County > General history of Macon County, Missouri > Part 84
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HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
Methodist Episcopal sect. Both are active workers in church interests, giving their countenance and aid to all worthy undertakings no matter where they originate, or whether or not they have any direct bearing on the congregations to which they themselves belong. Mr. Gwinner's success in business is not his only gauge of merit. He has the record of an upright and useful life, also, to his credit, and square dealing with all his fellow-men, and it is upon these features of his career that the universal esteem in which he is held among all classes of the people around him is based. He is regarded as a good man and an excellent citizen in every sense.
GEORGE W. RILEY.
The history of the family to which George W. Riley, one of the most successful and prominent farmers now living in Jackson town- ship, Macon county, belongs, runs like a thread of gold through the chronicles of three of the great commonwealths of the American union, dignifying and adorning the life of all and fruitful in usefuhiess to each. The grandfather of the present generation of the branch under consideration was born and reared in New Jersey. He became a min- ister of the gospel and in later years, after his removal to Ohio, was an intimate associate of Rev. Peter Cartwright, the renowned evangelist, who set the prairies of what was then the West on fire with his eloquence and zeal. Early in the thirties this good man moved his family from its ancestral home to Allen county, Ohio, where he took up government land, which he farmed in connection with his evangelical work and other duties of the Christian ministry.
His son, Leslie V. Riley, the father of the subject of these para- graphs, was also born in New Jersey, coming into being on October 27, 1827, and was brought to Ohio by his parents in his childhood. He began his education in the country schools near his home and completed it at the high school in Lima, Ohio, from which he was graduated and received a first grade certificate as a teacher for the public schools. He thereupon taught school for sixteen consecutive terms, two of them in this county, where he located in 1866. Soon after his arrival in this part of the country he bought 160 acres of land, which he farmed in connection with his educational work, carrying on extensive agricultural operations and raising live-stock for the markets on a large seale, his specialties in the live-stock line being fancy horses and sheep, some of which were prize winners at numerous county and state fairs, where they were exhibited with pride and viewed with admiration, the result
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being a decided elevation in the standard of stock throughout all the surrounding country.
The eller Mr. Riley, who won local renown in Ohio as a captain in the state militia, was married on October 22, 1848, to Miss Catherine Cupp, a native of Rockingham county, Virginia. They became the parents of nine children, five of whom are living: George W .; Mary, the wife of Stephen Hopper, of Sturges, Missouri; Charles, who lives at Decatur City, Iowa; James, a resident of Larned, Kansas; and Edward, whose home is in Macon City. In politics the father was an active working Republican, giving earnest and effective attention to the needs of his party on all occasions, and contributing his support of its candidates in wise counsel and energetic personal influence. He and his wife were zealous members of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which the latter was a teacher in the Sunday-schools and a determined worker. They both died in Macon county, the father September 2, 1897, and the mother January 21, 1901.
George W. Riley was educated in the district schools of this county after a short attendance in those of Allen county, Ohio. He was fourteen years old when the family moved to Missouri, and his opportunities for schooling were limited both before and after the change of residence. He remained at home, assisting on the farm and relied on as the main-stay of the household, until 1875, when he bought forty acres of land and began operations on his own account. Since then he has been continuously and successfully engaged in farm- ing and raising stock, increasing his possessions until he now owns 280 acres and has the whole tract under cultivation.
In connection with his farming and live-stock industries, he was also extensively and profitably engaged in general merchandising from 1883 to 1898, and during that period held three commissions as post- master from presidents of the two leading political parties, his admin- istration of the office being so vigorons and satisfactory that there was no opposition to him. In all his efforts to raise the rank of the office he was firmly sustained by the people of the community and county, and by strenous endeavors he elevated it from a little country station, with a weekly mail, to a busy and progressive postoffice, with daily service and greatly increased facilities, including a money order department.
Mr. Riley was married on December 21, 1873, to Miss Maria E. Gil- lespey, a native of Ohio, who bore hin five children who are living and one who died. Those who are alive and contributing to the progress and development of the country are: Lonisa, the wife of Charles Green, of Wisconsin; Getta, the wife of Virgil Grayott, of Kansas City, Mis-
JOHN F. LEFFLER
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souri ; Roy, who lives in Montana, and Joseph and Floyd, residents of Cameron, Missouri. Their mother died on April 4, 1906, and on Decem- ber 18, 1907, the father married again, being united on this occasion with Miss Jennie M. Chandler, a daughter of Captain Taylor Chandler, a native of Kentucky and a resident of Palmyra, in this state.
Mr. Riley takes a warm and practical interest in public affairs, local, state and national. He is a zealous working member of the Repub- lican party, and omits no effort possible to him to advance its welfare and bring success to its candidates. His services are highly appreciated by the party leaders and also by the militant hosts who follow them, for he gives them freely and without stint and they are skilful and effective. The life story here briefly narrated is one that should inspire the young to emulate the example it gives them, for it shows how industry, fru- gality and upright living bring success in this land of boundless oppor- tunity, winning not only worldly substance, but also general esteem and good will from all who know of them.
JOHN F. LEFFLER.
John F. Leffler, who is one of the most successful and representa- tive farmers of Callao township, in this county, is now a little less than fifty-one years old, and the whole of his life to this time has been passec in Missouri and all but about sixteen years of it in Macon county. Ir his useful and inspiring career here he has been actively and serviceably connected with the productive industries of the county in both an intel lectual and a material way. He was an efficient and popular teacher in the public schools of the county for more than ten years, and since he quit that occupation, which, although trying and nerve-racking to the teacher, is uplifting for the people, he has been prominently. profit- ably and successfully engaged in farming on an extensive scale and with commendable skill.
Mr. Leffler was born in Boone county, this state, on February 3, 1859. He is a son of J. I. Leffler, who is also a native of Boone county and was born there on August 10, 1836. He grew to manhood in that county and followed farming among its people until 1875, when he moved his family to Macon county, and here he continued his operations as an agriculturist, and also his course of usefulness as a public school teacher, having engaged in this work from the dawn of his manhood. in connection with his farming and stock-raising .enterprise for more than twenty-five years. He was married in 1858 to Miss Susan F. Green, also a native of Missouri. They became the parents of ten children, eight of whom are living. They are scattered far and wide
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at this time, but in their several localities they are all useful citizens and doing their full share to help in building up the country and mag- nifying its industrial, commercial and intellectual, moral and political power. The children living are: John F., the immediate subject of this writing; Ada, the wife of Allen Burnett, of Los Angeles, California; William E., who lives in Bozeman, Montana; Emily, the wife of James Wolsey, of Pasadena, California; Elizabeth, who is living at home; Sarah A., the wife of George A. Perry, of Callao; Susan, the wife of Charles Allen, of Callao, and Jethro J., who also lives at Callao. The father and mother are both living also, and, although well advanced in years, are still vigorous and active, and have an abiding interest in all the affairs of the township in which they live and the county, state and nation, besides.
John F. Leffler grew to the age of sixteen in his native county, attending the district schools in the vicinity of his home, and preparing himself for usefulness in life by every means at his command. He completed his scholastic training at St. James Academy in Macon and at once began teaching in the public schools of this county. He tanght about ten years and then turned his attention to farming, in which he has been diligently and extensively engaged ever since. In addition to this industry he raises considerable numbers of fine eattle for the market and carries on a flourishing business of large propor- tions in dairying. He is one of the most extensive breeders of registered Jersey cattle in this part of the state, in which he takes great pride.
Mr. Leffler was married in 1888 to Miss Mallie Cooper, of New Cambria. They became the parents of two children, their sons, Law- rence and Leonard, both of whom are still living with their father. Their mother died in 1893, while they were yet of tender ages, and they Wore reared under the direct supervision of their father and his sister. Elizabeth. In political faith he is a Democrat, but he has never been an active partisan, and acts independently in reference to local affairs. preferring to do what he thinks best for the welfare of the township and county without regard to partisan claims or any other consideration. He has never sought or wished for public office of any kind, but. in obedi- ence to public demands and for the general good, he waived his aversion to official life and served on the school board for many years, looking after the interests of the schools with zealons attention and an insight into their needs acquired in his experience as a teacher. Fraternally he is prominently connected with the Knights of Pythias and the Mod- ern Woodmen of America. In the affairs of these orders he takes an active interest and bears his full share of the labor and care of pro-
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moting their welfare in every way. In reference to all other interests which require general attention in the township he is one of the fore- most citizens in encouragement and assistance for what is good and in opposition to what is hurtful or of doubtful propriety. The people of the county esteem him highly as one of their wisest, most useful and most representative citizens.
ROBERT KARL SHEETZ.
Contributing to the comfort and convenience of the public of Red- man and the surrounding country as a general merchant in that town and its postmaster, Robert Karl Sheetz is serviceably ministering to the wants of the people among whom he was reared and has passed almost the whole of his life to this time. He knows their habits, tastes and needs, and is, therefore, able to provide for them with judgment, and, as his interests are identical with theirs, he renders his services in a way that is beneficial to the community and all its wants in general.
Mr. Sheetz is a native of Ten Mile township, where he was born on June 24, 1877. He began his education in the district schools of that township and completed it at Centenary College, which is located at Palmyra, in Marion county. When he finished his college course of instruction he gratified a longing he had felt for years, making a tour through parts of the farther West and passing a year at Billings, Mon- tana. The regions he visited and the city in which he passed the greater part of his time while absent from his native state interested him greatly, but they did not win him from his allegiance to Missouri. In 1900 he returned to his native heath and soon afterward entered the business world as a general merchant at Redman, first in association with his father and later as a partner of O. Meader. During the last four years he has conducted the business alone, and in the manage- ment of it has been very successful, building up a large trade and lay- ing a considerable extent of the surrounding country under tribute to his enterprise and making himself popular throughout the territory in which his patrons live.
Mr. Sheetz carries in stock abont $5,000 worth of goods, comprising everything required for his trade, which he both supplies and leads to higher development. His store is a central rallying place for all the country around it, all classes of persons visiting it to get the news of the day, local and general, and in behalf of all the multiform inter- ests which concern the dwellers in the country who have no other facili- ties for such purposes. In addition to its interest and importance in this respect, the postoffice of the town is located in it, and Mr. Sheetz
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is the postmaster. He was appointed on June 24, 1901, and has been the incumbent of the office ever since, rendering satisfactory service to the patrons of the office and retaining a firm hold on their regard and good will.
Mr. Sheetz has prospered in his business and is still prospering. Hle owns business property in the town and desirable building lots. besides his eommodions and attractive residence. He was married on October 8. 1905, to Miss Lena M. Fetter, a daughter of John and Berkley (Yutz) Fetter, long established and popular residents of this county. He and his wife have one child, their son, Richard Latrelle, who is liv- ing at home. Always an adherent and advocate of the Democratic principles and theories of government, the father has been effectively serviceable to his political party in many campaigns, conducting his partisan operations in a manner to make them useful but without offensive activity or bitterness in speech or deeds. In fraternal life he is an Odd Fellow and a Modern Woodman of America. To the local organization of both orders he gives a fair share of his time and atten- tion, making his membership in them valuable and useful. In business, in public affairs, and in social and fraternal life he stands in the front rank in the community and well deserves his eminence.
HENRY C. SHEETZ.
All of the sixty years of the earthly life so far vouchsafed to Henry C. Sheetz, one of the prominent and snecessful farmers of Ten Mile township, in this county, have been passed in Northeastern Missouri, and all of them from his youth have been fruitful in good to this sec- tion of the state. For he has lost no time, and all his occupations have involved direct benefits for the people around him. It is pleasing to note, also, that his services and career have been appreciated, and that he is universally regarded as one of the most worthy and estimable citizens of Macon county.
Mr. Sheetz was born in Shelby county, this state, on May 4, 1849, and is a son of Henry Thomas and Rebecca (Vandiver) Sheetz, natives of Virginia and early settlers in Shelby county. The father was born on April 2, 1813, in Hampshire county, which is now a part of the Old Dominion that was torn from the mother state in the violence of the Civil war and is known as West Virginia. He remained at home with his parents until he came of age and married, then set out for the dis- tant West, as it was at that time, willing to do all and dare all in the effort to found a home for his family and a name for himself in the fast growing empire beyond the Mississippi from his ancestral home.
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In 1834 he came to Missouri and located in Shelby county. That portion of the state was then a veritable wilderness of the far frontier, and those who braved its perils and hardships were called upon to display heroic qualities if they wished to remain. Mr. Sheetz and his young wife were made of the proper stuff for the ordeal and they endured its trials with fortitude and bore its burdens with fidelity and patience, sorene in their self-confidence and consciousness of strength and capac- ity. The father took up a tract of government land whose stubborn glebe the all conquering plow had never turned as yet. He broke up and improved this land, transforming it into a comfortable home and winning increasing prosperity from its returns for his industry and skill. He farmed it well and vigorously until 1862, and made it locally famous as a desirable stopping place for the farmers from other parts of the state on their way to Hannibal with their cattle. All who came that way spent the night at his hospitable home and were comfortably entertained, the arrangement being a great convenience to his guests and a source of considerable revenue to him.
In 1862 the father sold his farm and moved to the rising village of Shelhina, where he devoted his time and energies to general merchandis- ing until his death in 1868. He was married to Miss Rebecca Vandiver, a native of what is now West Virginia, and they became the parents of seven children, five of whom are living: Thomas Walter, whose home is in Montana; Susan, the wife of James Edelen, of Shelbyville, Missouri ; Laura, the wife of Jacob Lanous, of Marion county, this state ; IFenry C., and Julia, the wife of Charles Chapman, of Brookfield, Linn county, Missouri. The father was a pronounced Democrat in polit- ieal affiliation and a member of the Presbyterian church in religious allegiance.
Henry C. Sheetz obtained a limited education in the country schools of Shelby county and the graded school in Shelbyville. He remained at home and worked on his father's farm near Shelbyville until 1868, when his father died. He then moved to another farm in the same county, which he managed with snecess and profit for two years. At the end of that period he gave up farming for a time and formed a part- nership with James Edelen for the purpose of acquiring and carrying on a general merchandising enterprise. Together they bought a store in Shelbyville, in the management of which they were associated three years. Mr. Sheetz then sold his interest in the concern to his part- ner and moved to this county, where he has ever since had his home. Here he returned to the vocation of the old patriarchs, tilling the soil and raising flocks and herds. His operations in this county have been
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extensive and profitable, and he is accounted one of the most substan- tial and successful men in his township. He now owns 194 acres of excellent land and has nearly all of it under enltivation. His stock industry is also considerable and is managed with the same care and good judgment that he applies to everything else he puts his hands to.
In the public life of the community Mr. Sheetz has long been promi- nent and influential. He has served as township collector and treasurer and in various other positions of importance and responsibility, giving the people good service and guarding their interests with jealons care. On December 8, 1872, he was married to Miss Lillie Hnston, a daughter of Erastus and Mary Huston, old settlers and for a long time residents of Macon county. Five children have sprung from this union, four of whom are living: Robert Karl, of Redman, a brief sketch of whom will be found in this work; Leta Pearl, the wife of Orville Meador, who lives in Wyoming; Edith, the widow of Arthur Richardson, who is now living with her parents; and Ruby Grace, the wife of Allen MeOuray, whose home is in Canada. The father is a Democrat in his political relations and an active worker in the interest of his party. In fraternal life he is an Odd Fellow and a Woodmen of the World, and in religious affiliation an active working member of the Methodist Episcopal church, South.
GEORGE E. MAPES.
This valned and progressive citizen of Macon county, who is one of the leading farmers of Ten Mile township, has been serviceable to this portion of the state in many ways. He has given a good example of intelligent and progressive farming, and has also thrown much light on that subject and others with his keen, critical and busy pen. For many years he has been a writer of luminous articles for the Macon Democrat and Macon Republican, and some also for the Herald and Independent, which are published at Callao. In addition, he was, for a short time, the local correspondent for the Associated Press, but, finding his literary labors interfering too much with his farming opera- tions and other interests, he was obliged to enrtail the former, and dropped his work for the Associated Press.
Mr. Mapes was born in St. Croix county, Wisconsin, on May 22, 1856, and is a son of Walter B. and Catherine (Scott) Mapes, the story of whose lives is told in a sketch of their other son, Walter S. Mapes, which will be found elsewhere in this volume. George came to Missouri with his parents in 1867, and completed in the publie schools in the vicinity of his home and in Callao the education he had begun in those
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of his native county. He remained at home with his parents, working on the farm and cultivating his literary powers until 1877, then bought land and started an enterprise in farming on his own account, and raising live-stoek in connection with that. He has adhered to these interesting and profitable industries ever since and carried them on with success, now owning eighty acres of good land, well improved and vigorously and scientifically cultivated.
Mr. Mapes has never married, but has devoted his energies to the care of his mother since the death of his father, and his sister, who is still living with him and has charge of his household affairs. Their mother died on March 16, 1906, and her remains were laid to rest with every demonstration of esteem and affection from the people among whom so many years of her upright and useful life were passed. Mr. Mapes has also taken an unusually active and helpful part in public affairs and all undertakings in which the substantial and enduring wel- fare of the community has been involved. He has aided every com- mendable enterprise with active work and material assistance, and has also promoted and defended all in his highly appreciated articles in the papers, being for the good of the people both a champion in the field and an advocate of potency in the press. He is a Democrat in politics, a Modern Woodman of America in fraternal life and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, North, in religious affiliation. To his party, his lodge and his church he is faithful and serviceable, and his membership in each is highly valued and warmly appreciated.
In commanding the favors of Fortune the stylus is for most men less imperative than the plow. Happily for the subject of this brief memoir, he has been able to assail her citadel with both weapons, and she has capitulated to the combined assault with a considerable measure of bonnty, bestowing upon her persistent besieger both the substantial favor of a worldly competence and the laurels of high repute. Mr. Mapes has been successful in his business undertakings and has won a wide and well deserved approval in the literary cireles of this part of the country. He bears his honors modestly, however, and is in all respeets a high-toned gentleman and an upright, progressive and serv- ieeable citizen, representing in his character and his achievements the best elements of the county's wide-awake and progressive population.
WALTER S. MAPES.
Brought by his parents to this county in his infancy, and having passed all his subsequent years within its borders, devoting those of his youth and manhood to the cultivation of its responsive and fruitful
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soil, Walter S. Mapes, of Ten Mile township, has been closely con- nected with the growth and development of this portion of the state and intimately associated with its people. He has served them faith- fully in helping to build up and strengthen their political, educational and industrial institutions and elevate the standard of living among them by his example and influence.
Mr. Mapes was born in St. Croix county, Wisconsin, on December 30. 1866. He is a grandson of Barnabas Mapes, a native of New York state, and a son of Walter B. and Catherine (Scott) Mapes, the former born in New York in 1824, and the latter a native of Pennsylvania. The father remained on the home farm in the state of New York, assisting his parents until he attained his majority, then followed the course of empire westward, locating in St. Croix county, Wisconsin, where he farmed and operated a threshing outfit until the beginning of the Mex- ican war. He volunteered for service in that short. sharp and decisive conflict which vastly increased our public domain and the luster of our arms, being engaged in some of its most sanguinary battles, but escaped from the deluge of death unharmed. He was with General Scott when that hero of three wars unfurled the United States flag over the ancient capital of the Montezumas, and remained throughout the subsequent occupation of the city of Mexico until the terms of peace were settled and the army marched out again.
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