USA > Missouri > Shelby County > General history of Shelby County, Missouri > Part 35
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Julian A. Wheeler began his education in the public schools of New York state and finished it in those of Shelby county. After completing his academic training he turned his attention to farming and raising live stock, in which he was ex- tensively engaged until 1898. In that year he was appointed postmaster of Hunnewell. a position which he has ever since filled in a manner that has fully satisfied the government and the patrons of the office. He still owns and operates his farm of 200 acres, and also has a con- trolling interest in the Hunnewell tele- phone system, in the ownership and man- agement of which his brother, William D. Wheeler, is associated with him. In addition he owns a block of granitoid buildings and a very fine residence.
In politics Mr. Wheeler is an ardent Republican and has considerable influ- ence in the councils of his party. in whose service he is always active and effective.
His fraternal relations are with the In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows and the Court of Honor, and his church affilia- tion is with the Southern Methodists. He is a zealous church worker, taking a lead- ing part in all the benevolent and evan- gelizing efforts of his congregation, of which he is one of the stewards, and renders excellent and appreciated serv- ice as superintendent of the Sunday school.
Two generations of this family of Wheelers have dignified and adorned public and private life in IFunnewell and given its people good examples of high character. ardent local and general pa- triotism, and fruitful and elevated citi- zenship. No name stands higher in the annals of the city than its name does, and none more truly deserves the esteem in which it is held. In business, in social and in domestic life its members have met every requirement of duty and in of- ficial station the one of whom these par- agraphs are written has shown ability, fidelity and upright manhood of the high- est order, greatly to his own credit and the substantial welfare of the people of the whole community.
WILLIAM P. JANES.
William P. Janes, one of the prosper- ous and progressive farmers of Shelby county, whose achievements as an agri- culturist have given the people around him strong lessons as to what skill and intelligence allied with industry and good judgment can accomplish on the fertile and responsive soil of Missouri, is a native of Washington county, Ken- tueky, where he was born on March 10.
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1840, and whence he came to Marion county in this state when he was eleven years old.
Mr. Janes is a son of John H. and Re- becca (Gibbs) Janes, both born, reared and educated in Washington county, Kentucky, where they were married. They were farmers in their native state, and after their arrival in Missouri, in 1851, they followed the same line of ef- fort on a tract of land of which they be- came possessed in Marion county. There was a mill on the farm which the father also operated until 1879, and which was known far and wide during his manage- ment of it as a source of great conveni- ence and help to the people because of the excellent work it did and the superior quality of its products. It is still known as Janes's mill, but has passed out of usefulness into history, being nothing now but an old landmark whereby some idea of the progress and development of the country can be gained, and standing in the public eye as a reminder of the strenuous days and nights of toil and privation, of arduous effort and con- stant peril of the pioneer period of the past.
In 1879 the father sold the farm and the mill and took up his residence in Shelby county, where he died, having done well his part in the life and devel- opment of this section and laying down his burden crowned with the esteem of the whole people. He and his wife were the parents of twelve children, six of whom are living : James G., a prominent citizen of Monroe county; Thomas B., who lives at Lakenan, in this county; John II., whose home is at Cortland, Ne- braska; William P., of Hunnewell, the
immediate subject of this writing; Kath- arine, the wife of Benjamin Green, of Santa Fe, Missouri; and Rebecca, now Mrs. George Ruberson, of Marion coun- ty, on our eastern border. In politics the father was a pronounced Democrat, faithful in loyalty to his party and ef- feetive in its service. His religious affil- iation was with the Catholic church, and to this also he gave firm and faithful support throughout his life, zealous in attention to his duties as a member and unswerving in his devotion to its teach- ings.
William P. Janes was reared on his father's farm in Marion county and ob- tained his education in the district schools of the neighborhood. After leav- ing school he operated the farm in con- nection with his father for a number of years, then moved to Hunnewell, where he carried on a flourishing business as a blacksmith and wagon maker until 1889. In that year he sold his business and outfit, and again engaged in farming, lo- cating on a good farm in Shelby county, which he still manages, although prac- tically retired from its more exacting duties and more arduous labors.
While living in Hunnewell Mr. Janes took an active and serviceable part in the public affairs of the city and contrib- uted essentially to its growth, develop- ment and improvement. He was its first mayor and held a number of other city offices, all of which he filled acceptably, leaving a good record as an official and rearing monuments to his enterprise and publie spirit in substantial contributions to the comfort, convenience and advance- ment of the people. He was also active, and still is, in national politics as a Dem-
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ocrat of the old school, seeing in the principles of his party the best assur- ance of public and private security and clean and upright government, and standing by them as with the tug of gravitation. For over forty years he has been a member of the Masonie order and has studied with zeal and clearness of vision the lessons portrayed in the sym- bolism of the order, all of which he has tried to exemplify in his daily life. His religious connection is with the Metho- dist Episcopal Church South, in whose good works he has long been an active and potential factor.
Mr. Janes has been married twice. His first union was with Miss Sarah Mef- ford, of Marion county, Missouri, and occurred on September 22, 1860. They had four children, all of whom are liv- ing. They are: Sarah Etta, wife of W. B. Thiehoff, of League City, Texas; William H., of Paris, Missouri; Vincie B., of Cameron City, Missouri ; and Lula E., wife of Bruce Blackburn, of Los An- geles. California. Mr. Janes' second marriage took place on May 11, 1881. In this he became the liusband of Mrs. Eliz- abeth Scratch, the widow of John D. Scratch, and a native of Pennsylvania. They are the parents of two children, both living: Lozetta, wife of William H. Jones, of Paris, Missouri; and Mattie, wife of James E. Spencer. of Hunne- well. Mr. Janes has known Shelby county from his childhood and has lived in it for more than a generation of human life. He is a living witness of its progress and also of the struggles and trials through which the advance has been won. He has borne his full share of the burden incident to the develop-
ment of the country and is therefore fully entitled to enjoy the fruits of the labors he has shared with others in this behalf. The people accord him this right with- out stint, regarding him as one of their most useful and representative citizens.
JOHN W. LAIR.
The interesting subject of this brief review, who has been one of the most successful and enterprising farmers in Shelby county, has passed the whole of his life until the summer of 1910, at which time he moved to Gordon, Nebras- ka. He was born in Shelby county on March 18, 1846, and is a son of Robert and Elizabeth (Culberson) Lair, the for- mer a native of Kentucky and the latter of North Carolina.
The father's life began in 1810, and he became a resident of Missouri in 1828, coming to the state as a youth of eight- een with his parents, who followed the example given them by their parents and emigrated from their native heath to the farther west when it was a part of the almost untrodden wilderness of our wide domain. The paternal grandfather of Mr. Lair, William Lair, was a native of Pennsylvania and became a resident of Kentucky when he was a young man. striding boldly into the wilds in the wake of that hardy adventurer, discoverer and civilizer, Daniel Boone, and taking up his part in the work of improvement in the region that great man and his fol- lowers were wresting from the dominion of the wild forces of nature and their offspring of the plains and the forest. In Kentucky he transformed a tract of wild land into a good farm and on it he
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reared his family, but finally left the selling them, his operations working worn and wasted tenement of his ad- venturons spirit to be laid at rest in the soil of a newer state. He brought his family to Missouri in 1828, and again gave himself up to the demands and dangers of the frontier, repeating in Missouri what he had achieved in Ken- tucky.
A few years after his arrival in this state Robert Lair located in Shelby eoun- ty and started farming and raising stock on his own account. To these lines of in- dustry he adhered until his death in 1884. He married Miss Elizabeth Cul- berson, a native of North Carolina, and they became the parents of six children. Of these three are living: Mary, wife of George Latimor of Shelby county ; John W. of Shelbina, who is the subject of this review ; and Frances Marion, wife of George Bowers, of Shelbyville. In poli- ties the father was a Republican from the birth of the party to his death, stand- ing by its principles through all changes of conditions and firmly supporting them and its candidates in all cam- paigns.
John W. Lair was reared on his fath- er's farm and obtained his education in the district schools of the vicinity. His natural bent was to farming and he yielded to it without murmur or hesita- tion, assuming charge of the parental homestead when he left school, and con- ducting its operations until 1870. He then bonght a farm of his own and gave himself up wholly to its enltivation and improvement. His success was such as to inspire him to more ambitions efforts, and he became a dealer in farm lands, buying them, improving them and then
greatly to his own profit and equally to the advantage of the county and its peo- ple. He has also been long engaged in raising stock on an extensive scale and has for years been ranked among the leading shippers in this part of the state. In all his undertakings he has been very successful, and furnishes an impressive example of what good judgment and en- terprise in the use of opportunities is capable of in this land of boundless chances and this state of rapid progress and development.
Like his father, Mr. Lair has given his faith, loyalty and support to the princi- ples of the Republican party in national polities. But in local affairs his first consideration has been the enduring wel- fare of the county and its people without regard to partisanship or personal rela- tions. He has been of great service in promoting that welfare and is esteemed on all sides as one of the most useful citizens of the county and one of its most worthy and representative men.
On December 25, 1869, he was united in marriage with Miss Margaret Wilson, of this county. They have had seven children and have five living: Myrtle, wife of Nathan Cochran, of Gordon, Ne- braska; Ella, wife of Howell Jewett; Mande, wife of Dr. John Hendricks, of St. Louis: William, one of the prosper- ons and influential citizens of Shelby county ; and Bonnie Jean, wife of Brooks Corwine, of Shelbina. These all, in their several localities, are exemplifying the family traits of enterprise, thrift and in- telligent devotion to duty, and have won the regard and good will of all who know them.
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Although the father has passed liis three score years and lived a very in- dustrious and exacting life, he is still vigorous and energetic, and as eager for any new undertaking for the good of the county, whether by private or public forces, as he ever was, and is as willing to undergo exertion as younger men, with the assurance that his efforts will be as fruitful as those of any. He is an ex- ample to all, active himself and of great service through the activities he awakens and stimulates in others.
JAMES A. MCATEE.
Now and for many years one of the leading business men of Hunnewell, and held in the highest esteem throughout the surrounding country, in this and ad- jacent counties, James A. MeAtee went through a variety of trying experiences before he settled down to the interesting and useful life of trade with which he has been connected for nearly a third of a century. He was born in the old colo- nial city of Georgetown, in the District of Columbia, on December 30, 1849, and lived for a number of years in that then antique settlement which, as a suburb of the new capital of the country had an importance all its own. The conditions of travel and the surrounding country at the time made it remote from the capital, but still near enough to catch some re- flection from that enterprising and am- bitions municipality, especially as it was the residence of men eminent in the civil, military and naval life of that period of our country's history.
While it may not be a fair deduction to assume that Mr. MeAtee's spirit of
patriotism was quickened and intensified by the suggestions and associations of his boyhood in the old town which still bears the name of the last English king that had dominion over this country or any part of it, although it has for years been a part of the city of Washington, it is a fact that he has at every period of his life manifested a very warm interest in the welfare of his country and done all he could, with the light he has had, to promote that welfare. Living and flour- ishing on the plains of the great West, he has been able to take in the feelings and aspirations of the East and regard our nationality with a sweep of vision that reviewed every part of the country and looked upon all sections as equally im- portant.
Mr. McAtee is a son of Samuel I. and Annie (Kidwell) McAtee. the former a native of Marion county, Kentucky, and the latter of the state of Maryland. The father came to Missouri in 1852 and bought farms in Lincoln and Ralls eoun- ties, which he farmed for a few years. He then became a grocer in New London, Ralls county, and continued in business as such until the breaking out of the Civil war, when he sold his business and retired to a farm just outside the limits of New London. The portion of the state in which he lived was torn by dis- sension during the war, both sides to the great sectional conflict laying it under tribute and harassing its people. By 1864 the atmosphere of seetional con- troversy became so hot that the family moved to Monroe in that year, and there the father again entered the grocery trade, continuing his operations in this line until 1867. He then took up his resi-
HON. JAMES T. LLOYD
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HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY
dence' in Hunnewell and retired from active pursuits altogether. For many years he served the several communities in which he lived as a justice of the peace, and was still in office at the time of his death, in about 1903.
The elder Mr. McAtee was married to Miss Annie Kidwell, a native of Mary- land. They had ten children, seven of whom are living: Frank, who lives in Portland, Oregon: Rose, widow of the late P. J. Thiehoff, who resides in Hun- newell; Joseph, a prominent citizen of Hannibal, Missouri: James A., of Hun- newell, the immediate subject of these paragraphs ; S. S., whose home is in Los Angeles, California ; W. N., of Kansas City, Missouri; and Agnes, the wife of James Willett, of Hannibal. The father was a devout Catholie in religion and an ardent Democrat in polities.
James A. McAtee obtained his eduea- tion in the public schools of Hannibal and New London, Missouri. After leav- ing school he worked in the grocery store of his father, and when he left that es- tablishment he started to learn the trade of buggy making. He served his appren- ticeship faithfully and mastered the trade, then went forth to work at it on his own aeeount, which he did at various places during the next four years. In 1887 he started an enterprise in black- smithing and wagon making which he carried on for thirty years, condueting in connection with the other departments of the undertaking an extensive trade in farming implements. At the end of the period mentioned he sold the black- smithing and wagon business and outfit and since then he has devoted himself exclusively to his trade in implements.
He has been zealous and intelligently active in all efforts to promote the growth and development of the city, the comfort and convenience of its people and the power and fruitfulness of all its moral and mental agencies for good. He has also helped to keep the good name of its business men at a high position by giving an example of entire uprightness and fairness in all his dealings and by being square and manly in all the rela- tions of life. He is a stockholder in the Farmers and Merchants' Bank of Hun- newell and connected with other institu- tions of a helpful and stimulating char- aeter. In politics he is a Democrat and in religion a firm and faithful Catholic.
On December 28, 1878, he was married to Miss Celia Shearer, of Monroe coun- ty, in this state. Of the eight ehildren born to them seven are living: Samuel C., who lives at Lamar, Colorado ; Roy, a resident of Washington; Maud, the wife of John Woods, of Kansas City, Missouri; Lyda, the wife of A. L. Vaughn, of Hunnewell ; Rnth, who is liv- ing at home; Carl, whose home is at Kansas City, Missouri; and Lottie, who is also a member of the parental house- hold.
HON. JAMES T. LLOYD.
James T. Lloyd, present representa- tive of the First district of Missouri in the United States congress, is one of the distinguished members of the bar of his native state and has been engaged in the practice of his profession in Shelbyville for more than a quarter of a century, though he has not given close attention to his profession since he assumed the
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duties of his office in congress, of which he has been a member since 1897, and in which he has most ably and acceptably represented and safeguarded the inter- ests of his home state. He is known as a lawyer of high attainments, as a man of progressive ideas and mature judgment. and is ably npholding the prestige of his native commonwealth, which has sent many able and distinguished citizens to the national legislature. He is insist- ently loyal to his native state, whose in- terests he has made his own in a signifi- cant way, and this is shown by the high official preferment which has been given him through popular franchise.
Mr. Lloyd, as the name implies, is a scion of staunch Welsh stock, but the family was founded in America in the Colonial epoch of our national history, having early been established in Penn- sylvania. His grandfather, Zach Lloyd, who was born in Delaware, figures as the founder of the family in the state of Mis- souri. This worthy ancestor became one of the pioneer settlers of Lewis county. this state, where he continued to main- tain his home until his death. He was a man of force and ability, strong in his individuality and of impregnable integ- rity, this possessing the staunch timber that well fits into pioneer, life and labor. His son Jerry, father of the present con- gressman, was born in the state of Dela- ware, on the 3d of July. 1826. and was there reared to maturity, receiving a good common school education and learning in his youth the trade of cooper. As a young man he accompanied his hon- ored father on the family emigration to Missouri. and for some time he fol- lowed the work of his trade in Lewis
county, after which he turned his atten- tion to farming and stock growing, in connection with which he gained a large and generous measure of success. becom- ing one of the representative agricultur- ists of Lewis county, where he owned a fine landed estate of 200 acres. He re- sided on this homestead and gave his at- tention to its supervision from 1860 un- til 1887, when he retired from active la- bors and removed to the village of Clar- ence, Shelby county, where he passed the residne of his life, secure in the high re- gard of all who knew him and known as a man devoted to all that is best in con- nection with human thought, motive and action. He was summoned to the life eternal on the 17th of September, 1897, at the age of seventy years, and his loved and devoted wife still survives hin. maintaining her home in the family homestead and being held in affectionate regard by all who have come within the sphere of her gentle and gracious in- fluence. She is a devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, as was also her husband, and in politics he was ever aligned as a staunch advocate of the generic principles for which the Democratic party stands sponsor. The old homestead farm, one of the best in this favored section of the state. is still owned by the family and is in charge of the youngest son. Frisbie Lee Lloyd.
In January, 1856, was solemnized the marriage of Jerry Lloyd to Miss Frances Jones, who was born in the state of Ken- tueky on the 3d of March, 1827, being a daughter of William Jones, who removed from that state to Missouri in 1829, when she was but two years of age. The fam- ily settled in the vicinity of Emerson.
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Marion county, and Mrs. Lloyd has lived within a distance of fifty miles of the old homestead during the entire course of her life since that time. She is one of the venerable pioneer women of the state and retains in a remarkable way her mental and physical faculties. Jerry and Frances (Jones) Lloyd became the parents of three children, all of whom are living-James T., the immediate sub- ject of this review ; Samuel R., of Kirks- ville, this state, and Frisbie L., in charge of the old home farm. The honored father was for many years affiliated with the Masonic fraternity. of whose noble ideals and works he was deeply appre- ciative.
James T. Lloyd passed his boyhood and youth on the home farm, having been three years of age at the time of the family removal thereto from his native town of Canton. Lewis county, Missouri, where he was born on the 28th of August. 1857. He gained his preliminary educa- tion in the district schools and through study at home. and finally he was matric- ulated in Christian University, at Can- ton, his native town, in which institution he completed the prescribed four years' course and was graduated as a member of the class of 1878, with the degree of Bachelor of Science. While still an nn- dergraduate he gave his attention to teaching in the public schools at inter- vals, principally during his college vaca- tions, and after leaving the university he continued to follow the work of the peda- gogie profession until 1881, meeting with marked success and having held the po- sition of superintendent of the public schools of his native town of Canton, thus nullifying the application of the
scriptural aphorism that "a prophet is not without honor save in his own conn- try.". For two years he served as deputy sheriff of Lewis county, and in 1881 he was chosen deputy circuit clerk and re- corder for that county, and in that posi- tion remained for two years. During the time he was engaged in teaching and also while serving as a county official Mr. Lloyd prosecuted the study of law with marked earnestness and under effective preceptorship, thoroughly grounding himself in the science of jurisprudence and in due time proving his eligibility for membership in the bar, to which he was admitted at Edina, Knox county, in 1882.
Mr. Lloyd initiated the practice of his chosen profession by opening an office at Monticello, Lewis county, this state, in 1883, and there he was associated in practice with Oliver C. Clay, under the firm name of Clay & Lloyd, until March, 1885, when the alliance was dissolved and he forthwith removed to Shelbyville, which city has since represented his home and the center of his work in his profession, which he has signally digni- fied by his abilities and services. He gained marked distinction as an able and versatile trial lawyer and well fortified counselor, and he has not only appeared in connection with much important litiga- tion in the state and federal courts, but has retained a clientele of essentially representative character. He gave his undivided attention to the work of his profession until 1897, in June of which year he was elected to congress as repre- sentative of the First congressional dis- triet of Missouri. In this high office he has since continued to serve by succes- sive re-election, and the voters of his dis-
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