USA > Missouri > Shelby County > General history of Shelby County, Missouri > Part 43
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he has since continued in tenure and in which his administration has met with unequivocal commendation. Mr. Cadwell has rendered yeoman service in behalf of the cause of the Democratic party and is one of its valued workers in the local field. He is affiliated with the Independ- ent Order of Odd Fellows and the Mod- ern Woodmen of America. and is a citi- zen whose unqualified personal popu- larity in his native county stands as ade- (mate voucher for his sterling attributes of character.
On January 1, 1905, Mr. Cadwell was united in marriage to Miss Goldie G. Walker, of Shelbina, who was born and reared in this county and who is a daughter of Enoch HI. Walker, a well known and honored citizen of the county. Of the two children of this union one died in infancy and the sur- vivor, William G., was born on Novem- ber 12, 1908.
EDWIN M. DAMRELL.
Among the native sons of Missouri who have here attained success and pres- tige of no uncertain order is the present able and popular recorder of Shelby county, where he has maintained his home from his childhood days and where he has not only been identified with important business interests, but where he has also been called upon to serve in various positions of distinc- tive public trust, a fact that shows the estimate placed upon him in the county where he is best known. In the review of the career of his elder brother, Theodore B. Damrell, appearing on other pages of this work, is given sufficient information
concerning his parents and the family history to make it unnecessary to repeat the data in the present sketch. It may be noted, however, that he is a repre- sentative of one of the sterling pioneer families of this section of the state, with whose history the name has been long and worthily identified, in both Monroe and Shelby counties.
Fiwin M. Damrell was born on a farm in Jefferson township, Monroe county, Missouri, on March 9, 1869, and in 1877, shortly after the death of his honored father, the family removed from Monroe county to Shelby county, locating on an excellent farm which the father had pur- chased in Salt River township. There the subject of this sketch was reared to maturity, being afforded the advantages of the public schools of the locality and continuing to be identified with the work of the farm until he had attained to the age of eighteen years, when he took up his abode in Shelbyville, the county seat, where he became a clerk in the grocery store of Dussair & Levan, with which firm he continued in this capacity for several years, at the expiration of which, in 1893, he became associated with his brother, Theodore B., in purchasing the stock and business, which they there- after conducted under the firm name of Damrell Bros. for a period of five years.
In 1898 Mr. Damrell was elected clerk of the circuit court for Shelby county, for a term of four years, and the best evidence of the popular appreciation of his services was that given in his being chosen as his own successor in the elec- tion of 1902. He continued incumbent of the office for a second term of four years, at the expiration of which he was
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marked for further official honors, as he was elected county recorder in 1906, giv- ing a most able administration and being re-elected in 1910, so that he is ineum- bent of the office at the time of this writ- ing, being one of the faithful, efficient and valued officials of the county and commanding the confidence and esteem of all with whom he has come in contact, in official, business and social life. He is one of the interested principals in the Shelby County Abstract & Loan Com- pany, whose facilities and functions are of the best order, and he has ever mani- fested a loyal interest in all that has touched the progress and material and civic prosperity of his home county and state, while he is recognized as one of the representative citizens of Shelbyville, one of the thriving little cities of Mis- souri.
In politics Mr. Damrell has ever been aligned as a stalwart supporter of the principles and policies of the Democratic party, in whose cause he has given most effective service, having been an active factor in campaign work and being one of the leaders of the party in Shelby EUGENE M. TERRILL. county. He has held other offices of pub- lic order aside from those already men- The able and popular incumbent of the office of county clerk of Shelby coun- ty has passed his entire life in this sec- tion of Missouri, and he was for many years actively identified with agricul- tural pursuits. tioned and he is at the present time pres- ident of the city council. Prior to his election to county office he has served six years as city collector of Shelbyville. In a fraternal way he is affiliated with the local organizations of the Independent Eugene M. Terrill was born on the old homestead farm, in Marion county, Mis- souri, on November 11, 1856, and is the younger of the two children of Oliver T. and Susan M. (Mccullough) Terrill, Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America and he holds mem- bership in the Christian church. His wife is Noble Grand of the Rebecca Lodge and a member of the M. E. both of whom were born in Kentucky, Church, South.
On December 25, 1895, Mr. Damrell was united in marriage to Miss Elwyna Evans, who was born and reared in Shelby county, and who was the daugh- ter of John and Mary Evans, the former a native of Maryland and the latter of Shelby county, Missouri. Mrs. Damrell was summoned to the life eternal on Feb- ruary 28, 1901. No children were born of this union. On September 13, 1904, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Damrell to Miss Etta P. Foreman, who was born and reared in Shelbyville and who is a daughter of Aaron B. and Mar- tha V. Foreman, who still reside in this city, Mr. Foreman being a native of Shelby county and his wife of Winches- ter, Virginia. The Foreman family was one of the earliest to become identified with the pioneer settlement of Shelby county, where Aaron Foreman, from whom Aaron B. Foreman is a lineal de- scendant, took up his abode in 1817, hav- ing come here in company with Edward Whaley and three other men. Mr. and Mrs. Damrell have no children.
their marriage having been solemnized
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in Marion county, Missouri. Samuel, the elder of their two sons, died when about fourteen years of age. Oliver T. Terrill was one of the valiant argonauts who made their way across the plains to Cali- fornia after the memorable discovery of gold in that state, where he remained two years, having engaged in teaming from Sacramento to the various mining camps and later having been identified with the operation of a ferry. He re- turned to the East by way of Cape Horn. Upon coming to Missouri he first located in Marion county, where he continued to reside until 1858, when he removed with his family to Shelby county, where he purchased a traet of land in Black Creek township, developing the same into one of the excellent farms of the county and was actively engaged in agricultural pur- suits until 1879, when he received from the governor of the state appointment to the office of presiding judge of the county court to fill out an nnexpired term. At the ensuing election he was elected by popular vote for a full term, and he gave an admirable and acceptable administration on the beneh. After his retirement from office he lived virtually retired, in Shelbyville, until his death, which occurred in 1889. His devoted wife survived him by a decade, being sum- moned to eternal rest in August, 1902. Both were devout members of the Metli- odist Episcopal Church, South, and they ever held the high regard of all who knew them. In politics Judge Terrill was a staunch supporter of the cause of the . Democratic party.
Eugene M. Terrill was about two years of age at the time of the family re- moval to Shelby county and he was
reared to maturity on the home farm, early becoming familiar with the practi- cal details of its work and in the mean- while duly profiting by the advantages afforded in the district school. He later was enabled to continue his studies in the high school in Shelbyville, and there- after he was associated in the work and management of the home farm until the death of his honored father, who left to him 120 acres of valuable land, which continued to constitute the scene of his well directed individual enterprise as a farmer and stock grower until 1898, when he removed to Shelbyville and be- came a clerk in the office of the county recorder. This position he held until the spring of the following year, when he was appointed deputy county clerk un- der Charles Ennis. In this capacity he rendered efficient service for the ensuing eight years, at the expiration of which there came fitting recognition of his elig- ibility and faithful service in his election. in 1906, to the office of county clerk, of which he has since continued incumbent. His previous experience and his natural aptitude for the facile handling of detail work has made him a specially efficient executive, and his administration will pass on record as one of the best in the history of the office of clerk of the county.
In politics Mr. Terrill gives an unqual- ified allegianee to the Democratic party, and its cause has found in him a staunch advocate and one well fortified in his convictions as to matters of public policy. As a citizen his viewpoint is liberal and publie spirited, and he shows a lively in- terest in all measures and enterprises that tend to conserve the welfare of his
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home city and county. IIe is a stock- holder of the Shelby County Railroad Company, having become a charter mem- ber of the same. In Shelbyville he owns and ocenpies an attractive modern resi- dence. He is affiliated with the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, the Mod- ern Woodmen of America and the Court of Honor.
In June, 1879, Mr. Terrill was united in marriage to Miss Henrietta Speight, who was born in Indiana and reared in Shelby county, and who is a daughter of James Speight, who was for many years engaged in farming in this connty. Of the six children of this union four are living, namely : Lida, who is the wife of Carl Ennis, of Shelbyville; Oliver J., Samuel M. and Nannie, who remain be- neath the parental rooftree.
FREDERICK M. FARR.
A scion of one of the pioneer families of Missouri and known as one of the sub- stantial and representative eitizens of Shelby county, Mr. Farr is now living a retired life in the city of Shelbyville, where he is enjoying the generous com- fort and repose that are the just reward for former years of earnest and fruitful endeavor. He was long actively identi- fied with agricultural pursuits in this county and still owns a valuable farm of 160 acres, in Taylor township.
Frederiek M. Farr was born in Marion county, Missouri, on January 28, 1843, and is a son of William and Violet (For- sythe) Farr. His father was born in Virginia, whence he came to Missouri in an early day, becoming one of the pioneers of Marion county, where he was
engaged in farming and stock-raising until 1849, when he joined the exodus of gold seekers who were making their way aeross the plains to the new Eldorado in California. He never returned to his former home and passed the closing years of his life in Austin county, Texas, where he died in 1864. The maiden name of his first wife was VanVactor and for his second wife he married Miss Violet Forsythe, who was born in the state of Kentucky and whose death oc- curred in 1890. Of the six children only two are now living and of these the sub- ject of this sketch is the elder; Frances is the wife of Charles Newman. of San Antonio, Texas.
Frederick M. Farr was reared to ma- turity in his native county. where his educational advantages were limited to the district schools. For several years he found employment at farm work and also cultivated rented land, and in 1868 he took up his permanent residence in Shelby county, where he eventually be- came the owner of a fine landed estate of two hundred acres, making the best of improvements on the same and develop- ing one of the model farms of this sec- tion of the state. He started in life without financial resources and won sne- cess and independence through his own well directed energy and assiduous ap- plieation. He placed true valuation on men and things, and has ever maintained the most wholesome appreciation of honest toil and endeavor, while his life has been guided and governed by the strictest principles of integrity and honor, so that he has not been denied the confidence and high regard of his fellow men. In 1909 he disposed of the
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live stock on his farm and he and his wife now reside in the home of his son, Dr. George E. Farr, in Shelbyville. He rents his farm and continues to give to the same a general supervision in the matter of regulating its operation and keeping everything up to the eustomary high standard. He was one of the char- ter members of the Shelby County Rail- road Company, giving both his influence and tangible aid in support of the enter- prise. In politics he is a stanneh advo- cate of the principles of the Democratic party, and both he and his wife hold membership in the Baptist church.
In January, 1867, Mr. Farr was united in marriage to Miss Frances Ann Tur- ner, of Shelby county, where she was born and reared and where her parents were pioneer settlers. Mr. and Mrs. Farr became the parents of ten children, of whom eight are living. Concerning them the following brief data is con- sistently entered: Thomas F. is a pros- perons farmer of this county; William A. is a resident of Miltonvale, Kansas ; Mary Alma is the wife of Charles P. Me- Cracken, of Knox county, Missouri; Frances E. is the wife of Henry M. Tur- ner, of Cherry Box, Missouri; Dr. George E., of Shelbyville, is the subject of an individual sketch on other pages of this work : Zilpha is the wife of Otis Me- Cully, of Cherry Box, this state; Martha is the wife of Lon P. Wright, of Cherry Box, this county; and Prndy T. is now Mrs. Notley Keith, of Cherry Box.
GEORGE E. FARR, M. D.
Dr. Farr is one of the representative vonnger members of the medical profes-
sion in his native county and is engaged in active practice in Shelbyville. He is recognized as an able physician and sur- geon, well fortified in both the theoretical and practical branches of his exacting profession, and he has gained a repre- sentative support since establishing his home and headquarters in the thriving little city of Shelbyville. Ile is a son of Frederick M. Farr, a review of whose career appears on other pages of this volume, so that further reference to the family history is not demanded in the article at hand.
Dr. Farr was born at Leonard, Shelby county, Missouri, on October 31, 1878, and his early educational discipline was seeured in the district schools, after which he was a student in Leonard Academy for a period of nine months. Later he completed a course in Oaklawn College, at Novelty, this state, in which institution he was graduated as a mem- ber of the class of 1898. Thereafter he was a successful teacher in the schools of Shelby and Knox counties until 1900, in the fall of which year he was matrien- lated in the University Medical College of Kansas City, Missouri, in which he was graduated in 1906, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Ile initiated the active work of his profession by locating at Cherry Box, Shelby county, where he remained eleven months, and for the en- sning eighteen months he was engaged in practice at Novelty, this state. On January 8, 1909, he located in Shelby- ville, where he purchased the practice of Dr. Bob. Maupin, and where he has gained a seenre hold upon popular con- fidence and esteem, both as a physician and as a citizen. He is a member of the
WILLIAM A. HUGHES
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Shelby county Medical Society and the Tri-State Medical Society, and is local medical examiner for the New York Life Insurance Company, the Missouri State Life Insurance Company, the Interna- tional Life Insurance Company, of St. Lonis, and the Bankers' Life Insurance Company, of Des Moines, Iowa. In poli- ties he is a staunch adherent of the Dem- ocratic party, and he is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America. The doctor is a bachelor.
WILLIAM A. HUGHES.
In even a cursory review of the careers of the honored business men and leading farmers of Shelby county there is emi- nent consistency and, in fact, imperative demand that recognition be given to the late William A. Hughes, who for seventy years was an honored resident of this county. He was a dominating figure in the business circles of the county, and through his well-directed efforts accumu- lated a modest fortune. Progressive in both private and public affairs, he proved a most valuable citizen, and he so ordered his course as to retain at all times the confidence and esteem of his fellow men.
William A. Hughes was born in Boone county, Missouri, on the 18th day of Feb- ruary, 1830. He was a grandson of Jo- seph Hughes, one of the first pioneers to enter the wilderness of Kentucky, hav- ing emigrated to the "Blue Grass" state in about 1766, which was several years hefore Daniel Boone ever made a track in its wilderness, and there he passed the residue of his life, making for himself
and family a home in what is now Jessa- mine county of that great state. It was there that the father of our subject, John Hughes, was born in 1777. He grew to manhood amid the pioneer scenes of Kentucky and hore his full part in clear- ing away the forests and helping rid the country of the treacherous, lurking red men who made life perilous to the early settlers.
During the war of 1812 he saw active service in the northern campaign, and after peace was restored he returned to his home and began the work of clearing a home for himself amid the dense for- ests of his native county. Not being con- tent with the advantages offered him in Kentneky, in 1822 he gathered together his belongings and started for the then far west, coming to Boone county, Mis- souri, in that year. The Indians were still in possession of the country and all was still a forbidding wilderness. Noth- ing daunted by these surroundings, he began at once the work of establishing a new home, and continued to be a resident of that county until 1838, when he re- moved to Shelby county, securing a farm in Black Creek township, on which he re- sided until his death in 1865, having reached the advanced age of eighty-eight years.
He was three times married. His first wife was Elizabeth Perry, who died in Boone county, this state. He chose for his second companion Mrs. Jane E. West, a daughter of Joseph Miller, of Bourbon county, Kentucky, and after her death he married Mrs. Isabella Shambangh, a daughter of Jacob Vanort, of Virginia.
William A. Hughes was eight years of age when his parents moved to Shelby
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county. The country was unimproved and he bore his full part in reducing it to cultivation, and in early life became inured to the hardships and privations of pioneer life. He secured such educa- tion as was possible in the primitive schools of that day, which was necessa- rily limited. He remained on the home farm assisting in its labors, and on the death of his honored father he became the owner of a part of it, to which he added from time to time, until at the time of his death he was the owner of a fine landed estate of 320 acres. well im- proved with model buildings and every- thing that goes to make up a modern farm. Besides attending to his farm la- bors and its allied industry of live stock, of which he handled a large amount an- nually, he was also largely interested with the late Dr. Dimmitt and John T. Cooper in founding the first bank of Shelbyville, which was opened for busi- ness in 1874, and was known as the Shel- by County Savings Bank. Mr. Hughes continued to be interested in that bank for some years, when he disposed of his stock, but later became one of the origi- nal stockholders in the Citizens' Bank of Shelbyville, and continued to be a direc- tor of that bank until his death, which occurred at Shelbyville on May 4, 1908.
He was married in 1860 to Miss Mary E. Bowling, a daughter of Alexander Bowling, a native of Virginia.
One child was born to this union, Nel- lie E., who is now the wife of T. B. Dam- rell, of Shelbyville. Mrs. Damrell was a student of the Christian College, of Co- lumbia, Missouri. Further mention of Mr. Damrell will be found on other pages of this volume.
Mrs. Hughes is still living and makes her home with her daughter at Shelby- ville, where she continues as far as possi- ble the church and charitable work begun by her husband.
In religion Mr. Hughes was not a mem- ber of any denomination, but aided gen- erously all church organizations in the city and county, no matter what they he- longed to. In fraternal relations he he- longed to the Masonic fraternity, being a charter member of Shelbyville Lodge, No. 96, and was among the last of the charter members to pass away.
In politics Mr. Hughes was allied with the Democratic party, and was an intelli- gent advocate of the principles and poli- cies for which it stood sponsor and ren- dered effective service in the promotion of the party cause, but would never con- sent to accept public office.
He was a man of the loftiest princi- ples and strong intellectual powers. and will long be remembered as being among the most influential and honored citizens of Shelby county.
His memory is revered by all who re- main to have remembrance of his gentle and noble life and who came within the sphere of his gracious and helpful in- fluence.
JOHN M. TERRILL.
The life and labors of the late John M. Terrill, who died at his home in Shelby- ville, on November 5, 1894, were such as to eminently entitle him to memorial tribute in this history, while added con- sisteney is given from the fact that he was a native of this section of Missouri and a member of one of its honored pio- neer families. Hle was a man of broad
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mental ken, generons attributes of char- acter and distinctive publie spirit, and he did much to encourage and support measures and enterprises tending to ad- vance the civic and material progress of the community. His life was ordered upon the loftiest plane of integrity and honor and he left that best of all herit- ages, a good name, which is "rather to be desired than great riches." Through his own ability and well directed efforts he accumulated a competency, but he ever had a deep appreciation of the re- sponsibilities that snecess imposes and showed his stewardship by kindly snecor and aid extended to "those in any ways afflicted in mind, body or estate." Loyalty is a fine thing in Imman nature, and this sterling citizen showed in all the relations of life the utmost loyalty, so that he richly merited the high esteem in which he was held by those with whom he came in contact.
John M. Terrill was born in Marion county, Missouri, on September 12, 1825, and. so far as available data indicate, his parents came to this state from Ken- tucky in the early part of the second decade of the nineteenth century, num- bering themselves among the sturdy pio- neers of Marion county, where they passed the residue of their lives and where his father was a farmer by oc- cupation, tilling the willing soil and aid- ing in transforming the wilderness into productive fields and blossoming mead- ows. Owing to the exigencies and condi- tions of time and place, the subject of this memorial received in his youth only such educational advantages as were af- forded in the primitive pioneer schools, but his alert and receptive mind enabled
him to profit generously from the vala- ble lessons gained under the tutorship of that wisest of all head masters, expe- rience, and he became a man of broad in- formation and mature judgment. He he- came eventually the owner of a landed estate of 320 acres, in Marion and Shelby counties, and he was long numbered among the progressive and representa- tive farmers and stock-growers of this favored section of the state. He devoted much attention to the buying and ship- ping of live stock, and in this field of en- terprise he built up a large and prosper- ous business, being one of the leading dealers in this part of the state and gain- ing a wide acquaintanceship in the country throughont which his operations were extended. He continued actively identified with this line of business until about ten years prior to his demise, when, owing to impaired health, he re- moved from his homestead farm to Shelbyville, where he thereafter lived virtually retired umtil he was summoned from the scene of life's mortal endeav- ors. In Shelbyville he purchased the at- tractive and commodious residence in which his wife still maintains her home. He was one of the organizers and incor- porators of the Citizens' Bank of Shelby- ville and served as a member of its board of directors. Ilis widow still retains his stock in this solid and popular financial institution and has also added somewhat to her holdings in the same.
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