USA > Missouri > Macon County > General history of Macon County, Missouri > Part 96
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V
JOHN MANHART.
Orphaned by the death of his father when the son was but eleven years of age, and the first born of the living children of his parents, John Manhart of Lingo township in this county, assumed the burden of life for himself at a very early age, and has borne it with com- mendable cheerfulness and with profit to himself and the rest of the family ever since. Through life so far he has leaned on his mother for advice and direction, and during the last sixteen years she has leaned on him as her main dependence in the management of the farm and the support and education of the rest of the children, a trust to which he has been faithful in full measure and has won the reward of his fidelity in his own gains in a material way and the esteem and admiration of the people all around him.
Mr. Manhart was born in the township and on the farm of his present residence on February 27, 1882, and is a son of Frank F. and Regina (Mitch) Manhart, the former born in Germany in 1846 and the latter a native of this county. The father was brought from his native land to this country and to Lingo township, Macon county, when he was but six months old. His father located on a farm in the township and devoted his energies to breaking up the land and reducing it to systematic productiveness. As the son grew into years and vigor he
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took more and more of the work of the farm on himself, remaining at home until he came of age and attending the Manhart district school near the homestead, which was so named in honor of his father. Dur- ing the Civil war the father was in the army and the care of the farm devolved almost wholly on the son, young as he was. In this particular his experience was similar to that of his son John, as noted above, and like the latter, he also met his obligation with fidelity to every duty. By the time he reached his majority his father was back from the war and he was at liberty to start in life for himself, which he did by securing a small tract of land and giving his attention to farming and raising stock. ITis operations were successful from the start, and he was moving steadily forward toward wealth and consequence, when death cut short his career and ended his labors at the age of forty-seven, on December 16, 1893. He had acquired the ownership of 120 acres of excellent land and had brought it to a high state of productiveness and improved it with good buildings and other structures. In addition he had it well equipped with all the necessary appliances for progressive and up-to-date farming. He had also risen to consequence and influence in the community, and was regarded by the people as one of their most promising citizens, whose activity would be fruitful in good for them and the township.
In 1879 this prominent citizen, whose untimely death was a source of general regret and sorrow throughout the township, was married to Miss Regina Mitch, a resident at the time of Macon county, but a native of Indiana. Of the seven children born to them five are living. one daughter, Mary, who is the second of the five in the order of birth, and is now the wife of Charles Mossbarger of this county; and four sons, John, Joseph, Albert and August, all of whom are living at home with their mother. In political affairs the father was a very active and influential Democrat. He was always ready to stand or go in the service of his party and counted no sacrifice he could make too great if it helped to promote the welfare of the organization and bring success to its cause. Ilis son John is also a Demoerat and renders effective service to his party. The home farm of 160 aeres has thriven under his management, and is a model of skillful and scientific husbandry.
ROBERT E. POWELL.
3
Of good old North Carolina stoek, his grandfather, Henry A. Powell, and his father, William R. Powell, having been born in the Old North state, and their forefathers having lived in it for generations
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before them, Robert E. Powell, one of the progressive and prosperous farmers and stock men of Eagle township in this county, has inspiring traditions and fine examples of enterprise and worth in the history of his ancestors, and he has well borne up and dignified the family name himself. He is active and knowing in the management of his own affairs and energetic and broad-minded with reference to those of his community, always ready to aid in any good project for its advancement and true to lofty ideals of citizenship in every way.
Mr. Powell was born on August 7, 1857, in the township of his present and life-long residence to the present day. He is a son of William R. and Sarah (Pinnick) Powell, the former born in North Carolina on April 2, 1830, and the latter a native of Macon county, Missouri. The father came to this state and county in 1839 with his parents, who were very early settlers in this region. The family located near Callao, and there William R. Powell obtained a district school education, or rather the best the locality could furnish at the time, for it was new and unsettled, and all its facilities for mental train- ing were necessarily primitive and very limited in scope. He remained with his parents until he reached the age of twenty-four, then moved to Eagle township, in which he bought land and was engaged in farm- ing and raising stock to the end of his life. He was successful in his efforts for advancement and became the owner of 240 acres of good land, which he transformed from a state of virgin wilderness into a well-improved and highly productive farm. His marriage with Miss Pinnick occurred in 1854 and two children were born of the union, John H., who lives in Nebraska, and the immediate subject of this brief review. The father was an unwavering Democrat in his political faith and party allegiance, and was active and effective in the support of his convictions. He was a devoted member of the Cumberland Presby- terian church and energetic in his service to the congregation to which he was attached, taking an earnest interest and leading part in its work.
His son, Robert E. Powell, obtained his education at Hickory Grove district. school, working on the home farm while attending its sessions and assisting the family in the same way after leaving school until 1878. In that year he took charge of a farm belonging to his father- in-law, on which he conducted flourishing industries in farming and raising live stock for a continnons period of seven years. At the end of that period he bought the farm on which he now lives, and which has ever since been his home. It comprises 140 aeres, is well improved and skillfully cultivated and has grown into considerable value through his continuons industry and jndieions management, being now one of
G. A. YAGER
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the attractive and desirable country homes in the seetion in which it is located.
On December 19, 1878, Mr. Powell was married to Miss Sarah S. Griffith, who was born in Eagle township on December 22, 1858, and is a daughter of Obed and Melissa Griffith, who were born and reared in Kentneky. Of the four children born in the Powell household three are living: Myrtie May, who is still a member of the parental family cirele; William J., who lives in South Dakota; and Theodore J., who is also living at home. The parents are members of the Southern Methodist church and ardent workers in its benevolent activities. The father's political allegiance has always been given to the Democratic party and he has made his faith in it good by energetic and efficient work at all times for its welfare.
GUSTAVE A. YAGER.
V
With an experience in human life covering two continents, including five states of the American Union, and three or four different oeen- pations, Gustave A. Yager, secretary and treasurer of the Pioneer Gold Mining Company of New Cambria, Macon county, Missouri, has had excellent preparation for the great work in which he is now engaged -the development of the first gold mine in this state. He has been observant and studions, looking always to the real gist and meaning of human activity as it developed around him, and has therefore acquired a knowledge of men and affairs that is extensive, substantial and full of practical utility.
Mr. Yager was born in Asch, Bohemia, on April 11, 1857, where his parents, John C. and Eva M. (Zerold) Yager, also were born, and where they were reared and married. For some years the father was a student at the military school in Prague, and later served seven years as an officer in the Austrian army. After retiring from the army he engaged in the manufacture of stockingnet and a general mercantile business. While he was successful in his undertakings, and expanded his trade to considerable proportions, he longed for greater opportunities for advancement, and believed he could find them in the United States, even though it might be in different lines of endeavor from those to which he was accustomed.
Accordingly, in 1868 he brought his family to this country and settled on a farm in Dane county, Wisconsin, and there reared his four children, three sons and one daughter, to maturity and won a com- petency by his industry, thrift and good management. He died on the Wisconsin farm in 1883 and his widow at the same place in 1894. Their
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residence of fifteen years in that locality gave the people around them full knowledge of their worth and won them the esteem of all who knew them. They cultivated their farm with skill and diligence; they were true to all the better instincts of humanity in social life, and they per- formed with fidelity all the duties of American citizenship on an elevated plane of manhood and womanhood.
Their son Gustave passed his boyhood days on the farm, in school and the ordinary occupations of farmers' children in this country. After completing his education he clerked in a store until 1881. In the autumn of that year he left home to spend a winter in Florida, and when the spring of 1882 came went to Thompsonville, Connecticut, to engage in mercantile life. He remained seven years, and during that period was married in 1886 to Miss Jessie Bissland, a native of Gourock. Scot- land. In 1889 they moved to Trinidad, Colorado, where he engaged in the grocery trade and mining nntil 1900, when the state of his wife's health made it necessary for them to return to Thompsonville, Con- necticut, where their three sons and one daughter are now being educated, and which they still call their home, although at present living in this county because of the work in which Mr. Yager is engaged.
He has followed mining more or less in Colorado and Nevada dur- ing the past twenty years, and the last two has been associated with David J. Reed, a sketch of whom will be found in this work, developing the promising gold mining property of the Pioneer Gold Mining Com- pany in this county, which, as has been noted, is the first of that kind to be worked in the state. In this engagement Mr. Yager has a field suited to his taste and capacity, and that he is well fitted for the work he has already demonstrated by the results he has achieved. The field is a fruitful one, too, for the mine has unusual promise and seems sure to be one of the richest ever laid open in the country.
ARLEY E. EASLEY.
This prominent, prosperous and progressive farmer and stock man of Johnston township, Macon county, Missouri, began his operations in the industries in which he is now engaged with sixty calves bought with money borrowed from his father, and on land he rented for the purpose of farming and building up a business in the live stock trade. He now owns 320 acres of land and feeds thirty to eighty head of cattle on an average every year. He also has his farm well improved, all under cultivation and brought to a high state of productiveness. His progress from practically nothing in the way of property to his
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HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
present state of worldly comfort and consequence is the result of his own efforts and ability, and his career is wholly creditable to him.
Mr. Easeley was born in the township of his present home on June 1, 1872. His grandfather, Jesse Easeley, and his father, Thomas M. Easeley, were natives of Kentucky, the latter born in Cumberland county of that state in 1820. When he was seven years old the family moved to Brown county, Illinois, where he grew to manhood and obtained his education, and then farmed until 1855. In that year he came to Missouri and located in Adair county near the village of Gibbs, but two years later moved to Macon county. Here he passed the rest of his life extensively and successfully engaged in farming, making all his time and efforts tell to his advantage, and at one time owning and cultivating 760 acres of land. Hle divided a considerable portion of this among his children, but still had 320 acres at the time of his death, which occurred in 1904, when he was eighty-four years of age.
He was a Republican in politics, belonged to the Masonie fra- ternity and was a very zealous working member of the Christian church. He was also one of the hardy and heroic band of adventurers known to history as "The Forty-Niners," who crossed the plains to the Pacific coast during the excitment over the discovery of gold in Cali- fornia just before the middle of the nineteenth century. This exploit was in keeping with his character, for he was resolute in his purpose and never driven from it by any prospect of hardship or danger.
His son, Arley E. Easeley, obtained his education in the district schools of his native township and those of Sue City and Brashear in this state. On leaving school he started in business as a stockman and farmer, as stated in the first paragraph, and in 1892 bought 156 acres of land, a part of his present farm of 320 acres, which is one of the model farms of the county. He has also dealt considerably in real estate in connection with his farming and live stock operations and his other interests.
In the public affairs of his township and county he has always taken an earnest interest and a leading part, his aim being at all times to do what he could to advance the interests of the region of his home and promote the welfare of its people, and with these ends in view he has given his time, service and material aid to every worthy enter- prise in which they were involved. In polities he is a Republican of the most pronounced type and one of his party's most energetic and effec- tive workers, although he neither seeks nor desires any of its honors or official favors for himself. Ilis religions connection is with the
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HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
Union Presbyterian church, and in this, also, he is an active and helpful worker.
On April 14, 1895, Mr. Easeley was united in marriage with Miss Jessie Malone, a daughter of Charles and Sarah Malone, esteemed residents of Adair county, Missouri, where Mrs. Easeley was born and reared. Two children have blessed the union, Alma and Marvin, both of whom are still members of the parental family circle.
HENRY MARSHALL CAMPBELL.
Owning a fine farm of 160 acres in White township, and culti- vating it to the highest degree of productiveness, and also conducting in connection with his farming operations an extensive and profitable stock-raising industry, Henry Marshall Campbell is one of the most prosperous and progressive farmers and most substantial and respected citizens of Macon county. He was born in the county in 1850, and is a son of John and Emily (Ford) Campbell, natives of Virginia. The father left his ancestral home and came to Missouri in 1820, striding boldly into what was then a wilderness on the far western frontier, and daring Fate into the lists in order that through his own struggles and capabilities he might found a name and a family for himself away from the assistance of ancestral influence and traditions.
He was a valiant and heroic man even for that time and this local- ity as it was then, and in pursning his dual vocation of farmer and carpenter here gave new proofs of his courage and endurance, which had already been much in evidence on the battlefields of the Revolu- tionary war, in which he served as a mere youth. He succeeded and prospered here, as by the force of his character and his resolute deter- mination against odds, he showed that he would have succeeded and prospered almost anywhere and under any circumstances. He mot the difficulties in his path without fear and conquered them. He took the hardships and privations of his frontier life as a part of his destiny and grappled with them in a spirit that was bound to win success. And he aided in the development and improvement of the country with the same energy that he devoted to the building of his own fortunes.
Of the eight children born to him and his wife two are living: Cyn- thia, the wife of W. A. Atterberry of Elmer; and Henry M., the imme- diate subject of this writing. The mother died in 1860 and the father in 1875. They both stood high in the regard of the community of their home, and were held in cordial esteem by everybody who knew them. In their daily lives they exhibited a strong and uncompromis- ing sense of duty and devoted themselves to the requirements of their
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HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
situation with unwavering fidelity. They were ereditable to American citizenship, and their names are venerated as those of leaders in the publie and social life of this portion of the state in one of the most troublous periods of its history.
Henry M. Campbell grew to near maturity on his father's farm and was educated in the primitive country schools of his boyhood in this section. Although he lacked the care and direction of his parents during a portion of his minority, his mother dying when he was but ten years old, he met the requirements of life as a man even before he was of age, and has ever since shown the same spirit of mastery over circumstances and reliance on his own capacity and endeavors. As soon as he left school he began the work in which the rest of his life has been passed, that of farming and raising live stock. His progress at first was slow and painful, but he was knowing and persevering, and soon success began to come to him with increasing rapidity and volume. He now owns 160 acres of excellent land all of which he has under advanced cultivation except what he finds necessary to reserve for pasturage for his stock. He is also a stockholder in the Bank of Golds- berry, and interested in other institutions in which the good of the community is involved and fostered. In polities he adlieres to the principles and governmental policies of the Democratic party, and he always takes an active part in its campaigns, working sedulously and intelligently for its success, although himself never seeking any of the honor or emoluments it has to bestow on its faithful members. His religious connection is with the Baptist church and he is very zealous in the work of the congregation to which he belongs, and in which his membership is highly appreciated.
1872 Mr. Campbell was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Prudence Moore, a native of Macon county. They had three children : Charles Owen, who now lives in South Dakota; Mande B., who is the wife of John A. Biler, and Ario. The mother of these children died on May 5, 1897, and in 1900 the father was married a second time, , being united on this occasion with Miss Daisy E. Pritchard, also a native of this county. Of the three children born of this union but two are living, a daughter named Cynthia and a son named William M., both of whom are at home and attending school. Mr. Campbell is universally recognized as one of the best, most useful and most repre- sentative citizens of Macon county, and whether viewed in his private life or his services to the region in which he resides. he is altogether worthy of the exalted position he occupies in the public regard.
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HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
THOMAS J. MANNING.
This progressive and successful farmer and stock man of Chariton township in Macon county was born on March 10, 1857, in that part of the Old Dominion which is now known as West Virginia, and in the city of Charlestown. He came to Missouri with his parents when he was a boy and completed his education at MeGee College, College Mound, Macon county, the family having located in that neighborhood. After leaving school he entered upon the work which has occupied his time and energies ever since, that of farming and raising stock for the markets.
Mr. Manning has a fine farm of 160 acres which he inherited, and which he has greatly improved and brought to a very advanced state of cultivation and produetiveness. He is attentive to every detail of his work and applies to all departments of it the intelligence gained from reading, studious observation and analytical reflection. The same course governs him in his stock industry also, and as a result both are highly profitable and have given him a wide reputation as one of the most progressive men in the business in this part of the county.
In the public affairs of the township and county Mr. Manning takes an active and helpful part, giving his energetic aid to all worthy proj- ects for the improvement of the region and the benefit of its people. He has rendered excellent service as a member of the school board and in many other ways, and his devotion to the public welfare is appre- ciated by the people who have the benefit of it. In polities he is a Democrat and is always zealous in behalf of the good of his party, con- tributing all he can in service and influence for the success of its can- didates and striving with loyal and manly devotion to aid in giving it proper guidance and keep it up to a high standard of correctness in spirit and methods of operation.
On March 20, 1879, Mr. Manning was joined in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Gipson. a daughter of Stephen and Lucinda Gipson, esteemed residents of Macon county. Six children have been born in the Manning household and five of them are living: Virginia, who still resides at home; Francis D., who is a rising young man in this county, and Mary F., Richard J. and John A., all of whom are also abiding with their parents and helping to brighten and cheer the family circle.
Mr. Manning is highly respected throughout the county and wher- ever else the people have knowledge of him. He and his wife are devout and earnest members of the Presbyterian Church of the United
.
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HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
States of America, and both are energetie in work for the good of the congregation to which they belong. They are also active in behalf of all other worthy and improving agencies at work in the community, and both through their own efforts and through the forces which they awaken and put in motion in others by their influence and example they are very useful citizens, and are universally esteemed as such.
GEORGE GWINNER.
Among the sturdy, industrious and productive citizens of Macon county, Missouri, of German origin, who have applied to the develop- ment and improvement of the land of their adoption the qualities of patient and far-seeing industry, hardy endurance, resourcefulness in effort and frugality in life which have made the land of their nativity so great and prosperons, the late George Gwinner, of Eagle township, was one of the most useful and estecmed. He became warmly attached to his adopted country and devoted his energies to its welfare and the support of its publie institutions with the same ardor and effect as if it were his native country, and his services in their behalf were both extensive and appreciated, in accordance with his opportunities.
Mr. Gwinner was born in Bavaria, Germany, on June 24, 1827. and died in Eagle township, this county, on October 18, 1901. He was edu- cated in the schools of his locality in Germany, and after leaving them drove a mail and express coach there for seven years. In 1865, when he was thirty-eight years of age, he came to the United States and made his home for three years on a farm belonging to his sister in Jefferson county, Wisconsin, not far from the city of Milwaukee. In 1868 he became a resident of Macon county, locating first on forty acres of land which he bought on Burch creek. This he soon afterward traded for a similar acreage that was a part of the farm on which he passed the remainder of his life and on which his widow now lives.
While residing with his sister he was energetic and able in assist- ing in the cultivation of her farm, and after he came to this county his industry and close application to the same industry was continuous and fruitful. At the time of his death he owned and cultivated in the most vigorous and successful manner a farm of 160 acres, which is highly improved and well provided with everything necessary for its operation and very productive, and which, in its present state of advanced development, represents the assiduity and skill of his labor and the wisdom of his management, as it does those of his widow, who has carried the farming on ever since his decease. He was married on November 20, 1870, to Miss Anna Dorothy Winnig, a native of
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