USA > Missouri > Shelby County > General history of Shelby County, Missouri > Part 32
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father was a life-long Demoerat in pol- ities and for many years a devout and zealous member of the Baptist church. He died at the age of about 83 years, and his remains were followed to the grave with every demonstration of pop- ular esteem and affection.
Silas Threlkeld obtained his seholastie training in the district schools of Boone county, Indiana. After leaving school he learned the carpenter trade and worked at it in Indiana until 1859, when he brought his strength and aspirations as a man and his skill as a mechanje to Shelbina. His mechanical acquirements were badly needed in the village at the time and for some years he found em- ployment at his trade that was both plen- tiful and profitable. But he had a natu- ral inclination to farm life, and yielding to this, he bought his first farm near Paris, Monroe county; then sold it and bought another, also in Monroe county but not far from Shelbina, renting in ad- dition 400 aeres of land which he farmed for four years. At the end of that period lie found himself able to purchase a mueh desired farm in this county and he made the purchase.
During the next twelve years he ocen- pied and cultivated this farm with en- ergy and success, adding greatly to its value by bringing it to a high state of productiveness and by extensively im- proving it in buildings and equipment. The milling industry was then in great need of recruits and offered many oppor- tunities to men of enterprise and sagae- ity. He therefore sold his farm and moved to Shelbina, entering into a part- nership with his brother-in-law, F. D. Crow, with whom he was associated in
JAMES O. STRIBLING
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extensive milling operations for a period of twenty years. Farm life, however, still beckoned him with persuasive hand, and he traded his interest in the mill for another farm on which he took up his residence, and to which he gave his at- tention for a number of years and then sold it. In 1899 he gave up business of all kinds and again located in Shelbina, to pass the remainder of his days in peace after so many contests, in com- fortable rest and leisure after such ar- duous and long continued effort.
Through life Mr. Threlkeld has fol- lowed the fortunes of the Democratic party through vietory and defeat, always contributing effective aid in its cam- paigns and cordially supporting its can- didates. He is a charter member of the Odd Fellows ·lodge in Shanaldalı, Indi- ana, and has given it the benefit of his helpful membership ever since its organ- ization. He is a stockholder and one of the directors of the Old Bank of Shel- bina and takes an active interest in its business. Twice has be bowed beneath the flowery yoke of Eros, the first time being joined in marriage with Miss Mil- dred Acuff, of Monroe county, in 1863. Four children were born of this mar- riage, all of whom are living and resi- dents of Shelby county. They are: Net- tie, wife of W. S. Bryan ; Henry ; Jennie, the wife of William Lawrence ; all living in Shelbina; and Cornelia, the wife of James Miller, who has her home in an- other part of the county. The father's second marriage took place in 1884, when he was united with Miss Cornelia Acuff, of Monroe county. They have two children, their sons Roy, who lives at home, and Harold, who married Lotus
Smock August 11, 1908, and is condnet- ing a grocery store in Shelbina.
While Mr. Threlkeld is now but a rest- ful sojourner on the shady wayside of the world's strenuous activities, and only looks upon the passing pageant of its busy and productive life, he still feels a keen and abiding interest in all the phases of men's work and especially in the welfare of the community around him. He is no longer one of its militant forees, but by no means ignores or grows indifferent to its interests. Revered as a patriarch and looked up to as a sage, his counsel is still earnestly sought and his admonitions are heeded, so that his influence is felt in the county among whose people he is everywhere most highly esteemed as one of their worthiest citizens and most upright and sterling men.
JAMES O. STRIBLING.
The life story of this prominent citi- zen of Clarence, in this county, is one of adventure and thrilling incident in parts and of great energy, determination and good business management in all. He has been a soldier and faced death on many a bloody battlefield. He was a prisoner of war for several months, lan- guishing in Federal military prisons. He has also been a farmer of prominence and successful operations, and a timber contractor for one of the leading rail- road lines in this part of the country. He has met every requirement of his busy and varied life in a manly and mas- terly way and every week of his time and every faculty of his being minister to his substantial and continued advance- ment.
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HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY
Mr. Stribling was born in Monroe Green, whose eamp was in Scotland county, Missouri, on October 8, 1840, and is a son of Taliaferro and Jane C. (Boggs) Stribling, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Pennsyl- vania. Their marriage took place in Missouri and by it they became the par- ents of three children, all of whom are living. They are: Loupine, the wife of A. Damrell, of Shelbyville; James O :. the subject of this memoir; and Loretta, the wife of W. G. Sanders, also a resi- dent of Shelbyville.
The father came to Missouri in an early day and for a number of years worked at the salt works on Salt river in Ralls county. He then turned his at- tention to farming and raising live stock and adhered to these pursuits contin- nously until his death in 1844. He was a man of enterprise and progressive- ness, warmly interested in the progress and development of the region in which he lived, and gave earnest and very help- ful attention to the welfare of the people all around him. By his course in this respect he rose to prominence and in- fuenee and won the high esteem of the whole population.
James O. Stribling, like most of the boys and youth of this locality of his time, obtained his education in the pub- lie schools, attending them in Florida, Missouri. At the beginning of the Civil war he enlisted in the Confederate army under Col. Theodore Brace, and entered actively into the designs of the government, which he had volunteered to help and defend. He carried the first dispatch, after going into a regular camp, from General Harris, then holding his command in Ralls county, to Colonel
county. He took part in the battles of Monroe City, Lexington and Sugar Creek, Missouri, Pea Ridge. Arkansas, and many skirmishes. The service was hazardous and he was daring. This re- sulted in his capture after seven months in the field, and during the next two or three months he was confined in Federal military prisons at Clinton. Sedalia and St. Louis, Missouri. After he was mus- tered out of the service he was again taken prisoner while on his way home and again kept in confinement for some time.
After his release he returned to his former home in Monroe county. this state, but only remained a short time. In 1865 he went to work for the Hanni- bal & St. Joseph Railroad Company and took up his residence at Lakenan, in this county. He quit the railroad service in 1869 and turned his attention to farming and raising live stock near Lakenan, conducting his operations with great en- terprise and vigor and under very flour- ishing conditions. While thus engaged he drove the first self-binding harvester ever used in Shelby county, and for a period of twenty years was one of the leading farmers and stock men in this part of the state.
In 1889 Mr. Stribling sold his farming interests and moved to Clarence, where he has made his home ever since. Im- mediately after locating in Clarence he bought an interest in what was then known as the Clarence Roller Mill. and with this industrial institution he was connected for ten years. At the end of that period he sold his interest in it. During the last fifteen years he has been
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actively engaged in furnishing timber for the Chicago, Burlington & Quiney railroad, and during this period has made a number of short stays at Tex- arkana, Texas, in the vicinity of which he has about 8,000 acres of good timber land. The greater part of the timber now supplied for the use of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy line is procured along its right of way. Mr. Stribling also holds a considerable block of stock in the Shelby County State Bank, of Clarence. In December, 1910, he was elected president of The Clarence Say- ings Bank, which position he is now filling.
He was united in marriage with Miss Susan Dorothy Hamilton, of Monroe county, Missouri, on April 28, 1868. She is a daughter of Clement A. and Cecilia T. (Brown) Hamilton, of Clarence. Seven children have been born of the union, five of whom are living: Jane Oneta, the wife of Joseph McDonald, of Brookfield, Missouri; Lela, the wife of T. C. Stutz, also a resident of Brook- field; Ava and Clyde C., who are living at home with their parents ; and Loretta, the wife of I. C. Yates, who lives in Mon- roe City.
In his political alliance Mr. Stribling is a pronounced and active Democrat, zealous and effective in the service of his party, although seeking none of its honors or emoluments for himself. Fra- ternally he is a Knight of Pythias, and in religious faith and allegiance is con- nected with the Catholic church. He is loyal and devoted to his party, his lodge and his church, and has been faithful and serviceable in his performance of all the duties of citizenship, standing
high in the esteem of all the people as one of the best and most representative men in the county.
THOMAS ROFF.
Having reached the age of sixty-five and retired from all active pursuits of a strenuous character, the present life of Thomas Roff, one of the esteemed eiti- zens of Shelbina, might seem to be one of rest, recreation and retrospection merely, but it is not so. He is still act- ively and intelligently interested in the improvement and general welfare of the community in which he makes his home and does his part as ever to promote its good; he still reveres the county and state in which his labors have been ex- pended, to whose advancement he has materially contributed, and is at the front with others in efforts for their yet greater development and progress; he has lost nothing of his regard for the people among whom his years of pro- dnetive industry were passed, and he is constant in his wish and his endeavors to enlarge their happiness and substan- tial well being. So that even if he does no longer hold the plow, or reap the har- vest, or supply the live stock market, he is, nevertheless, still one of the workers for Shelby county's benefit and is re- garded as one of its most worthy and useful citizens.
Mr. Roff was born in the county on April 2, 1844, and is a son of the late Peter Roff, an account of whose life will be found in a sketch of his other son, George Roff, in this work. Following the course of most boys in the early days of a new country, Thomas Roff obtained
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HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY
his education in the district schools in the neighborhood of his home. and while attending them assisted in the labors of all hands on his father's farm. The times were exacting in his boyhood and youth, the necessaries of life being so difficult to get and requiring -o much ef- fort. that all the luxuries were unthought of. The pioneers of this section had the wild expanse around them to awaken from its sleep of ages and the rough face of the country to smooth before they could find comeliness in its aspect or lib- erality in its bosom. And the exacting conditions bore heavily on the boys as well as on the men. on the daughters of the household as well as on the mothers.
Thomas Roff was obliged by circum- stances to take his place among the toil- ers and do hi- full share toward supply- ing the needs of the home and family. and was therefore unable to seek other means of mental culture than those im- mediately at hand. He accepted his des- tiny with cheerfulness and performed its duties with all the ability and strength he could command. So entirely did he fall in with the genius of the time and locality that when he left school. instead of turning his back upon the rough life of the frontier. he remained on his father's farm and wrought with the rest until he reached the age of twenty-eight. Then. in 1972. his father deeded him a portion of the land he owned. and on this the son went heartily to work for him- self. During the succeeding twenty-seven years he farmed and raised live stock in- dustriously and profitably. continuing his operations until 1999, when he gave np active industry and sought a retired life in Shelbina, where he has ever since
had his home. He is a stockholder in the Shelbina National Bank and connected with other institutions of utility and value in the city and county. and to these he still gives the required share of his attention.
His political faith has ever been fixed in the Democratic party and his activity in public affairs has been devoted to its welfare. His church affiliation is with the Christian sect. and in its behalf he ha- long been a faithful and a zealous worker. On April 15. 1ss1. he was mar- ried to Miss Ella Hardcastle. of this county. They have had three children. of whom their daughter Lillian is the only one now living.
TILMON A. BAILEY.
Tilmon A. Bailey is a brother of John T. Bailey. of Shelbina. in a sketch of whom. on another page of this work. will be found an account of the life of their father. Tilmon O. Bailey, and the mother of the family. The subject of these para- graphs was born in Monroe county, Mis- souri, on August 22. 1862. He was reared on his father's farm. attending the di -- triet school in the neighborhood when he could be spared from the labor of culti- rating the homestead. and made good use of his limited opportunities in the way of scholastic acquirements. At the age of twenty he entered the Shelbina Collegiate Institute, which he attended until 1854. when he began a three years ' course of study at Central College. which is located at Fayette. in this state.
After completing his college course he became a teacher in the public school- of his native county. to which he rendered
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excellent service during a period of twelve years. He was elected county school commissioner of that county in 1896 and held the office two years, vacat- ing it in 1898 and taking up his resi- dence at Shelbina. IIe brought with him into Shelby county a number of select shorthorn cattle with several jaeks and jennets of a superior strain and stallions of high grade. With these he started an active industry in breeding stock, and also gave his services as a bookkeeper to the Commercial Bank of Shelbina and afterward, for a short time, to the Old Bank of the city. In 1906 he was elected cashier of the Farmers' and Merchants' Bank, as it was then called, but which, owing to a reorganization and change of management, is now known as the Shel- bina National Bank. But he did not re- main in this position long. Stock-breed- ing was more to his taste than banking, and in 1907 he retired from a business that was not entirely agreeable to him in order that he might give his whole time and attention to one that was. Since then he has been continuously and extensively engaged in raising stock, breeding con- siderable numbers of his own and han- dling many more by purchase and ex- change.
In this industry his interest is ah- sorbed and to its study and development his time is given. He has become thor- oughly familiar with all the details and features of the business and is recog- nized wherever he is known as an author- ity of extensive information and entire reliability on the subject and all matters connected with it. In this connection it should be noted that he served for years as secretary of an industrial association
made up of Shelby and Monroe county shorthorn breeders, and also as manager and conductor of its sales of stock, which took place annually, the two positions being awarded to him without opposi- tion, so complete was his mastery and knowledge of the business considered.
Mr. Bailey has taken considerable in- terest in the public affairs of his county, state and country. He is an ardent be- liever in the principles of the Democratic party and an earnest and effective worker in its behalf. He is also promi- nent in the fraternal life of the commu- nity as a member of the Masonic order, having served as Worshipful Master of the Lodge, High Priest of the Royal Arch Chapter, and Worthy Patron of the local organization of the order of the Eastern Star. He and wife hold mem- bership in the Southern Methodist church and are energetie and zealous workers. On September 1, 1892, he was married to Miss Frances Quisenberry, of Santa Fe, this state. They have had five children, three of whom are living and still under the parental rooftree. They are Blanche, Twila and Phyllis.
JUDGE NEWTON ADAMS.
This venerable citizen of Shelbina, has ontlived the allotted time of man, as pre- seribed by the palmist, but he is still hale and hearty, and takes an active in- terest in all that pertains to the progress and advancement of the people among whom he has so long lived and labored. Judge Adams is a native of the "Blue Grass" state, having been born in Henry county of that state on January 1, 1823.
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HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY
His parents, James and Katherine (Thornton) Adams, were natives of Ken- tucky and Virgina respectively, the father, like himself, being a native of Henry county, and there passed the ac- tive years of his life engaged in farming. In 1864, however, he severed the ties that bound him to his native state, and joined his children, who had preceded him to the great state of Missouri, making his home with them until his death, which occurred in Monroe county in 1874.
He was twice married. His first wife, the mother of the interesting subject of the article, died in Kentucky, in 1845. Six sons and three daughters were born to them, all of whom are now dead but two sons and a daughter. The father chose for his second wife. Susan Kerlin, a widow. To them was born one son, Jo- seph W., who is now a resident of Chari- ton county, Missouri.
The grandfather of Judge Adams was William Adams, a native of Ireland. He emigrated to America just prior to the revolution and settled in Pennsylvania. He was a soldier in the war of the revolu- tion, serving for nearly two years. When the colonies secured their independence, and peace was at last restored he emi- grated to Kentucky, and there passed the residue of his life. Four of his sons saw service in the war of 1812, three of them were in the Northern campaign, and one was with General Jackson at New Orleans. One son, William, died in Canada, while in the service.
Judge Newton Adams grow to man- hood among the pioneer seenes of his na- tive state, and endured many of the hard- ships and dangers incident to the settle-
ment and development of that great com- monwealth.
He attended the primitive schools of the day, but was early in life compelled to make his own way in the world, and began laying the foundation of his own fortune by working on nearby farms. The wages were small and thinking to better his condition, in 1850, he severed the home ties and started for Missouri, which was at that time attracting so many of the young men of that section. The trip was made by water to Hannibal, and he ar- rived there on Christmas day of the same year.
He at once made his way inland to Monroe county, and purchased a farm of two hundred and forty acres, five miles south of Shelbina.
The land was unimproved, and he at once set about making a home for him- self, enduring all the hardships and pri- vations incident to the founding of a home in a new country. He continued to reside on that farm until 1864, bring- ing it to a high state of productiveness. In that year he disposed of the land and removed to Shelbina, where he made his home until 1883, when he purchased an- other tract of land in Monroe county, six miles southwest of Shelbina.
This land he improved and resided upon until 1889, when he disposed of it and removed to Columbia, Missouri, that his children might have the advantage of the excellent schools of that place. After a residence of two years in Columbia, he again returned to Shelbina, and pur- chased a farm one mile south of the city on which he lived until 1906, when he re- tired from all active pursuits, and is now
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HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY
passing the evening of his long and active life in the city of Shelbina, sur- rounded by a host of friends who respect him for the many sterling qualities of mind and heart they know him to pos- sess.
While a resident of Shelby county, Judge Adams was called upon to serve as county judge of the county, being first appointed to fill an unexpired term in 1871, and elected in the fall following to succeed himself in the same office, and in this connection it might be well to state that he was the first Democrat elected to office in Shelby county after the war. While a resident of Monroe county he filled the office of justice of the peace for a number of years, and also of county assessor for one term.
In politics the judge was first a "Know Nothing," but after the death of that party he aligned himself with the Democratic party, and for many years was considered one of the leaders in Shelby county.
He was married in Monroe county, March 2, 1851, to Mrs. Martha (Sparks) Heridon, who like himself is a native of Kentucky. Ten children have been born to them, seven of whom are living- Sarah, William, Lucy, Mattie, Newton T., Jane and Vinnie.
In religion he and wife are members of the Presbyterian church, the judge having united with the church when he was twenty years of age. He was also one of the charter members of the church at Shelbina and an elder of the same. Fraternally he belongs to the Masonic fraternity, becoming a Master Mason in 1862, and has filled the chairs of Sr.,
Deacon and Worshipful Master of Shel- bina Lodge, No. 228.
CHARLES S. BARKER.
In the productive fields of peaceful in- dustry, in military service during the great Civil war, in connection with the management of mighty utilities of every day service to the people, and again in farming for a period, and then in the employ of the national government, Charles S. Barker, of Shelbina, has been of great service to the citizens of Mis- souri and several other states. His life of sixty-five years to this time has been a very busy one from the age at which he became able to work, and all his pur- suits have ministered directly and sub- stantially to the comfort, convenience and general well-being of the public. His long and faithful devotion to duty and his excellent record in every way have brought him the continued esteem of all who know him and registered him in the regard of the people as one of the most useful and worthy citizens of this county.
Mr. Barker is a native of Shelby county and was born on November 17, 1844. He is of Scotch ancestry on his father's side, his grandfather, John Bar- ker, having been born in the romantic land of Scott and Burns. In the war of 1812 he raised a company of soldiers, with his brother George as captain. He emigrated to this country in early man- hood, locating in Clinton county, Penn- sylvania, where Jonathan Barker, the father of Charles, was born on July 27, 1808. From his youth until November, 1840, he was boatman on the Susque-
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HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY
hanna river. In the autumn of 1840 he came to this state and founded a new home on Salt river, in Shelby county, buying a tract of land which gave him water power for a mill. He developed his land and made it fruitful, and also built up an extensive trade at lis mill, which he continued to develop until the high water of 1846 swept it away, follow- ing these pursuits steadily, industriously and profitably until his death on May 3, 1894.
Besides Jonathan Barker, others of his immediate family were instrumental in aiding the development of the country they had chosen for a home. His brother George, who came to this country in 1820, was a surveyor for forty years. HIe also built the first mill at Walkerville, the place taking its name from Jonathan Walker, an own cousin of the father of Charles Baker, and the grandfather, Charles Smith, built the old court house in Shelbina.
In November, 1842, he was married to Miss Emeline R. Smith, a resident of this county at the time but a native of Kentucky. Their offspring numbered ten and five are living, widely scattered in location and pursuits, but all exempli- fying the lessons and examples given them around the family hearth in useful avocations and contributions to the growth and development of our common country. They are : The subject of this brief review; Washington D., a resident of Gridley, California; Mary F .. now Mrs. William Kealey. of Shelbina ; Amanda, wife of Samuel E. Baker, of Shelbina; Helen N., who is married to James S. Barker and lives at Gridley, California ; and .Jennie, who is Mrs. Will-
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