USA > Missouri > Macon County > General history of Macon County, Missouri > Part 88
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Mr. Graves was married on February 27, 1890, to Miss Tena
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HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
Mayers, a native of this county and a daughter of A. T. H. and Min- erva (Rowland) Mayers, who are well known and highly esteemed throughout the county. Six children have been born of the union, but only four are living. They are two sons, William A., and two danghters, Gertrude Beulah and Homer Lee, all of whom are still abiding with their parents. The head of the house is a zealous, loyal and active Democrat in polities, at all times eager for the success of his party and doing all he can to bring victory to its banners. He has also been active and serviceable to the community in ways not directly political, having served with credit to himself and benefit to the township as school director, and taken a cordial and effective interest in every com- mendable enterprise for the advancement and improvement of the coun- try all around him and the promotion of all its productive activities. He is prominent in the public, business and social life of the township, and riehly deserves all the encomimms that have been passed upon him as a farmer and a citizen, and they are many, for he is universally esteemed.
WILLIAM GREEN GRAVES.
Among the enterprising and successful farmers and business men of Middlefork township, Macon county, William Green Graves holds a high rank. In everything he has undertaken he has shown ability, intelligence and progressiveness of a high order, and has so far made every day of his activity connt to his advantage and advancement. In his farming operations he has been and is eminently snecessful, and for the short period of his experience as a merchant he is able to show good returns both as a man of business and in the favorable impression he made on the business world around him and the scene of his enterprise.
Mr. Graves was born in the township in which he now lives on April 3, 1864. He is a son of William R. and Permelia (Reynolds) Graves, a brief account of whose lives will he found in a sketch of his brother, Robert M. Graves, elsewhere in this work. William G. Graves obtained his edneation in the district schools of Macon county, working on his father's farm while attending them, and preparing himself by both study and experience in practical industry for the battle of life that was before him. He remained at home with his parents until 1892, when he and his brother, Hiram N. Graves, a sketch of whom appears on another page, formed a partnership and bought a general store at Woodville, in which was then located the postoffice at that place, and during the next five years they conducted a flourishing and profitable
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business under the firm name of Graves Brothers. They handled gen- eral merchandise and had a considerable trade, meeting the require- ments of the locality in the extent and variety of their stock and making a friend of every patron by the upright and square manner in which they dealt with all comers.
In December, 1897. after Mr. Graves had sold his interest in the store at Woodville to his brother and lived for some months on the Hogan farm, which he rented for one year, he and his brother-in-law, John W. Tooley, bought out the other heirs of the William R. Graves estate, and on 400 acres of the land belonging to it prior to their pur- chase Mr. Graves settled down to farming as a permanent occupation, determined to give his whole attention to the management, development and improvement of his property and the operations properly growing out of it. Since that time he has been continuously and extensively engaged in agricultural pursuits and raising live-stoek for the markets on a large scale. He has been very enterprising and far-seeing, has applied intelligence and energy to his work, and has had his eyes open and his faculties ready to take advantage of any opportunity he might find to improve his condition and accelerate his progress. Studious of his business and looking to all its details with sleepless vigilance, he has made it prosperous in a high degree, and risen to the first rank among the farmers of Macon county.
Mr. Graves has also taken an active and intelligent interest in local public affairs and lent himself willingly, zealously and effectively to all undertakings for the improvement of the township and county and promoting the lasting welfare of their people. He served wisely and efficiently as school director, and in many other ways has given the people the benefit of his intelligence, progressiveness and breadth of view. In polities he is an active working Democrat, with good judgment as an adviser and indomitable energy as a worker in behalf of his party, and his services to it are highly appreciated by both its leaders and its rank and file.
On March 5, 1895, Mr. Graves was united in marriage with Miss Eva Haley, a daughter of James and Sarah ( Wedding) Haley, prom- inent residents of Randolph county in this state. The four children born of this union are all living and all still at home with their parents. They are Hettie, Opal, William G., Jr., and J. T., and are now seeking to acquire good educations and prepare themselves to take their parents' places in the general esteem and good will of the people and carry the family name to farther conquests in business life and keep up the excellent reputation it has soeially and in every other way. The family
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home is one of the pleasant and popular resorts for elevated social enjoyment in the township, and is a center of refined and gracious hospitality. Wherever they are known Mr. and Mrs. Graves are held in the highest esteem.
HIRAM M. REYNOLDS.
This prominent and prosperous farmer and leading citizen of Mid- dlefork township, in this county, is a brother of Ebenezer E. Reynolds, a sketch of whom will be found on another page of this work, which con- tains the family history at some length. Mr. Reynolds was born in Randolph county, Missouri, on December 20, 1836, and is a son of George and Sarah (Skidmore) Reynolds, the former a native of Georgia and the latter of Kentucky. They came to Missouri in the very early days, being pioneers in the state, and passed the remainder of their days here.
Hiram M. Reynolds obtained his education in the district schools of Shelby county, where he passed his boyhood and youth. He located in Macon county early in the seventies and has been profitably engaged in farming and raising stock here ever since, with the exception of ten years, which he passed at Carthage, Jasper county, occupied in rail- roading. Farm life had, however, a potent and commanding voice for him, and at the end of the period mentioned he returned to Macon county and bought forty acres of land, on which he is still living and expending his powers to his own advantage and the great improvement of the place. He was also engaged in farming in Shelby county at the dawn of his manhood, and made his industry there tell in every way to his benefit. He farms with skill and judgment, applying to his work the information he gleans from a careful reading and study of what is written on the subject, as well as the lessons of experience, and is regarded as one of the most progressive agriculturists in the township.
Mr. Reynolds was married in 1863 to Miss Nancy J. Crane, a native ยท of Kentucky, and by the marriage became the father of four children. all of whom are living. They are: John; Mattie, wife of C. E. Long; George W .; and James P., all residents of this county. The mother of these children died in 1876, and in September, 1880, the father married a second wife, being united on this occasion with Miss Catherine MI. Hodges, who was born and reared in Macon county. The five children born of this marriage are all living and are: Ida, the wife of John E. Fredeick, of California; Albert E., who lives in this county; Frank, who is in business in Hannibal; and Hiram N. and Charles E .. both of whom are living at home with their parents.
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In polities the father has been a life-long Democrat, warmly inter- ested at all times in the success of his party and doing all he can to bring that about. In religion he leans toward the Christian church, of which his wife is a zealous and energetie working member. She and her lmsband are well esteemed, both on account of their personal merit and their public spirit and zeal in promoting the welfare of the community in which they live and the comfort and convenience of its people. They are leaders in thought and action in all good works, and are held in high appreciation for the enterprise they show in both. V
ROBERT MADISON GRAVES.
The nineteenth century was very near its meridian in time when Robert Madison Graves, of Middlefork township, Macon county, was born in the locality of his present residence on April 1, 1849. He has witnessed all of its subsequent splendor of development, progress and achievement, and in his own way and location has done his part towards all that has been accomplished, giving his aid at all times to every worthy undertaking for the improvement of his township, which was the place of his nativity and has always been his home, and doing all in his power to advance the interests of its people.
Mr. Graves is of North Carolina ancestry on his father's side, his grandfather, Thomas Graves, having been born and reared in that state. His father, William R. Graves, the son of Thomas, was born in Pulaski county, Kentucky, on December 12, 1822, and became a resi- dent of Macon county in this state when he was a boy of sixteen, coming hither in 1838. He took up a tract of government land, but soon after- ward sold his elaim. He then bought a tract of 160 acres, and with that as a neleus he built up a plantation of 1,000 acres. True, the country was new and unpeopled, and the advances of the white raee were still stubbornly resisted by the Indians. The forests and plains were still the roving grounds of wild beasts, which were all too willing to levy on the fruits of systematic industry and even human life itself for their subsistence. Danger lurked in every shadow and every day was fraught with peril. The common necessaries of existence were hard to get and the luxuries were altogether unattainable. But Mr. Graves met all the conditions of his frontier life with lofty courage, cheerful endurance and a resolute determination to build and prosper where he had stuck his stake. Having started farming in the wilderness, he never faltered in his purpose, but kept on improving his land and enlarging his opera- tions until, as has been shown. he became one of the most extensive landholters in the county. He raised considerable numbers of cattle
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and other live stock and fed a great many for the markets every year, and this industry was one of the principal factors in building up his fortune.
As a pioneer settler and a man of capacity, breadth of view and progressiveness, he was called on to take an active part in the early government of the township and county, and had a large share in get- ting them started in municipal life and laying the foundations of their civil institutions and their present prosperity and greatness. Hle rose to commanding influence in the county, and when he died on June 20, 1898, was one of the most prominent citizens of northeastern Missouri. In 1845 he was married to Miss Permelia Reynolds, a native of Macon county, who died in 1869. They became the parents of thirteen children, three of whom have passed away. Those living are: Ursula Jane, the wife of J. J. Richardson ; Robert M., the interesting theme of this arti- cle ; Mary D., the wife of R. Il. Walker; Hiram N., who lives in Macon City; James F .; William G .; Sarah, the wife of William Richardson; Isabelle, widow of James Rowe: Catherine, the wife of John Tooley; and Lysander Lee. They are all residents of this county, and in their several spheres are accounted as being among the most progressive, representative and useful citizens of the section of the state in which they live. In politics the father was a prominent and influential Demo- crat, and in religion a leading and hard working member of the Christian church.
Robert M. Graves is literally a child of the frontier and the product of its conditions. He obtained his edneation in the district schools in the neighborhood of his father's farm, which he attended irregularly during the winter months for a few years, all the while assisting in the labors of the farm, which in that day formed the first requirement for everybody. At the best his gleaning's from this field of small prodne- tion would have been slender, but he was not allowed to get all even it might have furnished. The Civil war broke out in the midst of his school days, and that great sectional contest so disturbed the social, civil and business institutions of this part of the state that almost everything was at a standstill during its continuance. The warfare waged in and around this section was of a predatory nature, and it required the utmost vigilance on the part of the farmers to save what they had from the foragers of both sides to the controversy. Mr. Graves remained at home, partially to help in taking care of the prop- erty and carrying on the work and partially because it was dangerous for anyone to be on the highways much of the time. He lived with his parents until 1873, when he married and moved into a home of his own.
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Since then he has been continnonsly and very actively engaged in farm- ing and raising stock, and in all his operations he has been eminently successful. He began with a farm of 200 acres, which he bought on time, and he now owns 600 acres, 500 of which are under cultivation and highly productive.
Mr. Graves has not only been successful in business and in develop- ing and promoting his own welfare, but he has also taken an active and helpful interest in the prosperity and progress of the township and county, and done all he could to advance their interests along lines of wholesome development. He has served the public well and wisely as constable, justice of the peace and school director officially, and by his example and influence has inspired and kept at work the spirit of prog- ress in others, stimulating them to exertion and directing their force to worthy and profitable results.
On January 9, 1873, Mr. Graves was united in marriage with Miss Flora A. Sage, a daughter of James and Sarah (Jett) Sage, natives of Kentucky and pioneers of Missouri, now living in Macon county, where they have long resided. Mr. and Mrs. Graves have had six children, three of whom have died. Those living are Philip M., a prosperous farmer in this county, and Grace and Emory, who are still living with their parents on the family homestead. The father is a very active, hard working Democrat, influential in his party and regarded as one of its wisest and most judicious leaders. He and his wife and all the children are members of the Christian church and are among the most energetic and effective workers in the congregation to which they belong. The family stands well socially and is regarded as one of the most useful, representative and estimable in the county, dignifying and adorning life, both public and private, official, social and religious, and bearing well its part in the performance of duty and in service to the community whatever may be the line of endeavor that requires attention and the force of action and example.
FRANCIS H. NEWTON, M. D.
Born, reared, educated and trained in social life in the empire city of this country, and during the last seventeen years practicing medicine in a rural community in the West, Dr. Francis H. Newton of Elmer in this county has given a striking proof of his adaptability to circum- stances and his readiness and capacity to meet their demands, whatever they may be. His record is a gratifying tribute to the versatility of American manhood and an evidence of the commanding spirit of independence that dominates it.
FRANCIS H. NEWTON, M. D.
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Dr. Newton was born in New York city in 1858, a son of Lawrence and Mary A. (Ettrick) Newton, natives of England and the parents of nine children. All the children of the household grew to maturity, the Doctor being the youngest of the nine. The father died in 1875 and the mother in 1877. The Doctor therefore became an orphan before he reached his manhood, and was left almost wholly to his own resources for advancement in life, without parental assistance or even guidance at the beginning of his career. Ile obtained a good elementary educa- tion and something more in the way of scholastic training in the public schools of his native city, also attended Earlham College at Richmond, Indiana, and as soon as he completed their courses of instruction began the study of medicine. He had already chosen his life work, with the promptness of decision that has distinguished him always, and in his steady adherence to his first choice he has exemplified another charac- teristic of his nature. Ilis technical training for his professional work was secured at the Northwestern University, St. Joseph, Missouri, from which he was graduated in 1892, with the degree of M. D. from the medical department of that renowned and progressive institution.
In the whole history of a man, whatever of incident or adventure, of trial or triumph, it may involve, there can scarcely ever be any hour more intensely interesting or fraught with the greater weight of vital significance to him than the one in which he stands on the threshold of the big and busy world, and anxiously contemplates his own part in its work and selects the locality in which that shall be performed. Dr. Newton, no doubt, still recollects that hour in his experience with vividness, and recalls it even now with thrilling interest. But he did not dally on the verge of his responsibility. His face was set in line with the progress of the sun and the course of empire, and he promptly fell in with the moving tide and came to Missouri, a yet young but rapidly progressing portion of the country and laden with unworn opportunities for skill and ability industriously applied to any useful occupation.
He located at Elmer and began his practice. There was need for a man of his caliber in the town at the time and his arrival was at what close reasoners might call "the psychological moment." His progress was gratifying from the start and has been continuons and more and more expansive ever since. Ile has devoted himself almost wholly to the demands of his business and is reaping the reward of his fidelity in an extensive and remunerative practice and a position of commanding influence in the regard and good will of the people to whose benefit he has so essentially ministered.
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The public affairs of the township and county have deeply inter- ested him and their needs have closely engaged his attention. To see the section in which he lives prosper and progress, to have all its moral, educational and social forces doing their best for the wholesome improvement of the people, and to witness its material resources pouring their stores into the world's great treasure house under the impulse of highly vitalized and wisely directed power, has been one of his leading ambitions, and in the full measure of his capacity and opportunties he has aided in the effort to realize it. In his professional work he has been of signal and continued service to the community; and in the domain of progress and improvement he has never withheld his hand from any undertaking that he considered of value or likely to result in substantial good.
In the study of his profession and the use of the means for greater mastery of its possibilities he has been indefatigable. He has been an industrious reader of the best medical journals and similar liter- ature, and for many years has taken an active and helpful part in the proceedings of the County, State and American medical associations. In politics he is a pronounced and zealous Republican, earnestly inter- ested in the welfare of his party and devoted in his service to it. Fraternally he belongs to the Odd Fellows, the Yeomen, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Royal Neighbors, and each of these estimable fraternities has his cordial support in all its worthy efforts for advancement toward greater usefulness. He was married in 1895 to Miss Martha Enyeart, a native of this county, and has two children, his daughter Nellie Frances and his son George Lyman, both of whom help to brighten and warm the family hearthstone and render the home of their parents additionally attractive to their hosts of admiring friends.
EBENEZER E. REYNOLDS.
The oldest native born resident of Middlefork township, Macon county, Ebenezer E. Reynolds has a distinction all his own, and one that entitles him to and secures for him the respect and consideration of all its people. But he is not dependent on the accident of his birth for the esteem in which he is universally held. He has demonstrated in his long and useful life among this people that he possesses qualities of head and heart that would win him regard and good will anywhere and establish him in the favorable opinion of any community.
Mr. Reynolds came into being in the township of his present resi- dence on July 15, 1838, and is a scion of an old North Carolina family
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living in that state from early colonial times. His grandfather, James Reynolds, moved from that state into Georgia as a young man, and in Georgia Ebenezer's father, George Reynolds, was born. He became a resident of Missouri in 1819, two years before the admission of the terri- tory into the Union as a state. Mr. Reynolds located first in what was then Howard county, where he remained a number of years. Then, after a short residence in Randolph county, he moved to Macon county in 1836 and founded his home at Woodville, where he was prosperously engaged in farming until his death in 1851. He was one of the pioneers of this portion of the state and his memory is embalmed in the hearts of the people as that of one of the founders of their present civil insti- tutions and their substantial prosperity. He was married to Miss Sarah Skidmore, a native of Kentucky. They had fourteen children and two of them are still living: Hiram M., who is a resident of this county, and Ebenezer E.
In political faith and action the father was an ardent Demoerat throughout his mature life, and to the end of his days he gave loyal and unstinted support to the principles and candidates of his party. He was also influential in the early government of the township, being one of the wisest and most far-seeing of the first settlers and well qualified to lead in local publie affairs. Many of the movements toward a local autonomy and settled form of government were started and all were heartily supported by him. He lived to see the fruits of his labors and his self-sacrificing devotion to the good of the neighborhood in a well developed and prosperous community, full of present life and energy and rich in promise for the future.
Ebenezer F. Reynolds obtained what scholastic training was avail- able to the children of the frontier in the primitive country schools of his boyhood in this locality. But Nature was his main teacher, and free communion with her gave him breadth of view, quiekness of pereep- tion, readiness in action and unyielding self-reliance. He remained with his parents until 1861, then at the first eall for volunteers in defense of his political principles, which were deemed to be seriously threat- ened by the controversy between the North and the South, and the elec- tion of a president of the United States on sectional issues, he enlisted in the State Guards, a little later transferring his allegiance and his arms to the service of the Confederacy, and entering its armies in a company under the command of Captain Ben. Eli Guthrie. His military service continued to the end of the war. It was arduous, dan- gerous and trying, and he still bears the marks of its hardships upon him. He participated in many noted engagements, among them the
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battles at Lexington, Missouri; Pea Ridge, Arkansas; Corinth, Vieks- Imrg and luka, Mississippi; Franklin, Tennessee; New Hope Church and Lookout Mountain, Georgia, and others, besides many skirmishes and minor engagements. He was wounded seven times, but none of the wounds were so serious as to incapacitate him for service permanently.
When the great civil strife between the sections of the country ended Mr. Reynolds was mustered out of the service at Jackson, Missis- sippi. He then returned to this county, where he purchased land and was actively engaged in farming and improving it and raising stock until 1894, when he retired, having won a competency and earned a rest for the remainder of his days by the intensity if not the length of his industry, and the trials of his years of action if not the amount of labor performed in them. He owns forty acres of land and has been a suc- cessful man, wining by worth and fidelity to duty the high place he occupies in the esteem of his fellow men.
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