USA > Missouri > Shelby County > General history of Shelby County, Missouri > Part 64
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HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY
JAMES SASS.
Black Creek township has upon its fer- tile and highly productive soil a number of the most progressive and successful farmers in Shelby county. They are men of thrift and enterprise, and they study the nature of the soil they cultivate, its possibilities and requirements and by reading and good judgment keep them- selves in touch with all the latest devel- opments in the science of agriculture, so as to secure the best results in their work. Among them none stands higher in public esteem as a farmer and as a citizen than James Sass, whose well im- proved and attractive farm of 224 acres is in section 29, and is one of the best in the township.
Mr. Sass is a native of Holstein, Ger- many, where he was born on December 7, 1851, and where he lived until he was seventeen years of age and obtained his education. He is a son of Jergin and Louisa (Widow) Sass, also natives of Germany. They were the parents of seven children, fonr of whom are living: Nicholas, Catherine, the wife of Emil Claussen ; James and Agnes, all resi- dents of Shelby county. The mother died in her native land, and in 1871 the father brought the rest of the family to the United States and direct to this county, following hither his son JJames, who came to the county in 1869. The father was a farmer all his life, and after con- ducting a profitable industry in his chosen vocation for a period of twenty years in Shelby county, died here in 1891.
James Sass has been of a resolute and energetie nature from his childhood, and
as he was approaching his manhood be- gan to think of better opportunities for advancement in life than his own land seemed to offer, and to study where he could find them. He was well informed as to the boundless resources of the United States and the wealth of oppor- tunity in them, and determined to avail himself of the promise the land across the sea held out to industry, thrift and good management. Accordingly, youth of seventeen as he was, he braved the heaving Atlantic, without friend or kin- dred in his company, and in due course of time arrived in Shelby county.
He had been well trained to farming and at once entered upon that occupation as his life work. He has been engaged in it ever since, and has been successful and prosperous from the start. For he has known how to do his work well and man- age his operations skillfully, and al- though his progress was slow at first, it was steady and rapidly increased. In connection with his farming he has car- ried on a flourishing stock industry, and in this line of effort he has also suc- ceeded, making it pay good returns for the labor and care he bestowed on it. As has been noted, he owns and cultivates 224 acres of fine land and has his farm well improved.
He has taken an active interest in pub- lie affairs and risen to prominence in the community. All the duties of good citizenship have found him ready for their performance, and the people es- teem his devotion to the welfare of the township and county in which he has lived and labored so effectually to his own advantage and for the benefit of the locality. In polities he is a Prohibition-
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ist and in religion a member of Inde- pendent Holiness church, and in both his party and his church organizations he has long taken an earnest and service- able interest.
Mr. Sass has been married twice, first in 1877 to Miss Mary Doss, a resident of Shelby county. They had one child, their son John, who is living. The mother died in 1884, and in 1885 the father mar- ried a second time, making Miss Cather- ine Krauter, also of Shelby county, his choice. Of their three children, one, their son Henry, is living and is still at lome.
FRANCIS M. CHURCHWELL.
From its very beginning the career of Francis M. Churchwell, who lives on a fine farm of 320 acres near Shelbyville, as a farmer and live stock breeder and dealer, has been successful and progres- sive. He is a gentleman of great enter- prise and industry, thoroughly familiar with all that is latest in discovery and methods in the lines of endeavor to which his life to this time (1911) has been de- voted, and decidedly skilful in the appli- cation of his extensive knowledge con- eerning them. He is a native of Mis- souri and has never lived in any other siate, but has devoted all his years of maturity to its welfare and the advance- ments of its agricultural and live stock industries, and at the same time has given the general welfare of the locality of his home earnest and intelligent at- tention.
Mr. Churchwell was born in Marion county, this state, on August 4, 1843. He is of English aneestry, his grand- father, Samuel Churchwell, having been
born and reared in that country, and of Virginia parentage, his father, Thomas Churchwell, and his mother, whose maid- en name was Susan E. Tarpley, having been natives of the Old Dominion. The father was born on March 22, 1810, and eame to Missouri in 1836. He took up his residence in Marion county on a farm of eighty acres, and there he was actively and successfully engaged in farming and rearing live stock until his death.
On November 30, 1837, he solemnized his marriage with Miss Tarpley, who was born on January 16, 1818, and they be- came the parents of seven children, six of whom are living: Eliza J., the wife of John T. Poor, of Garfield county, Okla- homa; Meredith T., whose home is in Shelbina ; Franeis M., who also lives in this county ; Thomas J., a resident of the state of Nebraska; William Harvey, an- other of the family residing in this county ; and Sarah Ann V., the wife of Isaac Bethards, whose home is also in Shelby county. The father died on July 12, 1886, having survived his wife thirty- six years, her death having occurred on November 12, 1850. In politics he was a Whig until the death of the party of that name, and after that a Republican. His religions association was with the Missionary Baptist church, and he was devoted to the welfare of his seet. But, although a man of peace in times of peace. he did not hesitate, in his young manhood, to take up arms in defense of his country, having been a volunteer and valiant soldier in the Black Hawk war.
Francis M. Churchwell received his academie education in the district sehools of Marion county, and later pursued a
MR. AND MRS. FRANCIS M. CHURCHWELL
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HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY
course of special training for business at the Jones Commercial college in St. Louis. After leaving that institution he taught school three terms, and then lo- cated on a farm of 100 acres near Em- den, on which he lived until 1889. In that year he moved to a farm of 200 aeres near Shelbyville. This farm he oo- eupied and improved until 1903, when lie made his home on the one he now resides on, which is also near Shelbyville. This comprises 320 acres and is well improved and very skillfully cultivated. It has been brought to a high state of product- iveness, and has handsomely supported ยท and advanced the extensive industry in feeding and raising live stock for the markets which Mr. Churchwell has con- dueted on it from the time when he took possession of it. He is especially interested in breeding and raising mules, and deals in them extensively as an ad- junet to his other live stock operations. He has been very successful in all his undertakings and is one of the leading and most substantial farmers and stock men in Black Creek township.
On October 31, 1867, Mr. Churchwel! was united in marriage with Miss Sarah A. V. Durrett, a native of Marion county, Missouri. They have had eleven children and twenty-four grandchildren, all of whom are living: Richard H., of Cas- cade county, Montana; Frances J., the wife of A. C. Vawter, of Neosha, Mis- souri ; Sarah A., the wife of Polk Conno- way, of this county; Mary S., the wife of Frank Connoway, whose home is also in this county ; Thomas H., a resident of Cascade county, Montana ; Mona L., the wife of James T. Churchwell, of Ray- mon, Montana; Rebecca E., the wife of
Walter MeCue, a resident of Shelby county, Missouri ; Francis M., Jr., the third member of the family, whose home is in Cascade county, Montana; John S., who resides in Pratt county, Kansas; and William T. and Benjamin D., who are living at home with their parents. In polities the father is a Republican, and in religious association a member of the Missionary Baptist church. It goes without the saying that he is one of the highly esteemed citizens of Shelby county and is regarded as one of its leading and most useful men.
HENRY RATHJEN.
The early pioneers of Shelby county redeemed the region from the waste and laid the foundations of its present great- ness and advanced development. The men and women of a later generation and all subsequent ones have gone on improving and enriching the domain ac- cording to their opportunities and eap- abilities, adding successive features of progress and forces of culture as the times demanded and their resources al- lowed. From the beginning the fortunes of this portion of the state have been in the hands of capable and self-reliant people, ready to take advantage of every circumstance for its aggrandizement and willing to make any sacrifice to ae- complish its greatest good. The future of the county and the commonwealth de- pends upon the fiber and force of the present generation and those that shall come after it.
As an indication of what the present generation is doing to keep up the march of progress and meet the require-
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ments of its duty, the career of Henry all of them residents of Shelby county. Rathjen, of Black Creek township. and The father and mother were for many years devout and consistent workers of the Lutheran church and attentive to all the requirements of their duty as such. others like him, is well worthy of con- sideration. He is a progressive and wide awake farmer and stock man, fully abreast with the times in his business and alive to all the elements and powers of good citizenship and what is de- manded of it. What the young farmers and stockmen of the county are doing gives abundant assurance that there will be no backward step, and that no proper means of development, intellectual. moral or social will be overlooked and that no material advantages will pass un- noticed or neglected.
Mr. Rathjen is a native of the county and has passed the whole of his life to this time within its borders. He was born on February 17, 1877, and is a son of Christian and Elizabeth (Cordis) Rathjen, natives of Germany. The father was born in 1841 and came to the United States in 1868. Hle came at once to Shelby county. Missouri. on his ar- rival in this country, and found a home in a German settlement containing many of the friends of his earlier life in his native land. He took up as his own the leading occupation of the settlement. and the one to which he had been reared, becoming a farmer and stock-raiser. Ile continued his operations in this dual line of useful and profitable endeavor nutil his death on December 29, 1906, and was successful in all he undertook.
He was married on October 10, 1870, to Miss Elizabeth Cordis, and by this marriage became the father of four chil- dren, all of whom are living: Hiram, Lizzie, the wife of Theodore Heinze, Henry and Anna, the wife of Hugh Dane, in laborious exertion on the soil of our
Henry Rathjen was educated in the country schools of Shelby county and immediately after completing their course of instruction began the career of farmer and stock man in which he is still engaged. He now owns 100 acres of good land, well improved and nearly all under cultivation. He is a Democrat in politics and has his religious affiliation with the Lutheran church. On Febru- ary 16, 1906, he was united in marriage with Miss Kate Keller, a daughter of Philip Keller. an esteemed resident of Shelby county. They have one child, their son Christian Henry. Mr. Rathjen is as enterprising and progressive with reference to the affairs of the county as he is in his own business. He is every- where regarded as an excellent citizen and an upright and useful man, worthy of all esteem and earnestly interested in the enduring welfare of the township and county in which he lives.
JOHN S. CHINN.
Devoting the first few years of his early manhood to farming on his father's farm, and four of its most strenuous and trying ones to the defense of his po- litical opinions during our Civil war, then returning to the peaceful and pro- ductive pursuit of agriculture, with a flourishing live stock industry in connec- tion, .John S. Chinn, of Black Creek township, in this county, has been tried
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country, both when it has been plowed by the sword for men's destruction and furrowed by the plowshare for their sustenance, and has not been found wanting in either case. He is one of the successful farmers of his township and one of its most esteemed citizens.
Mr. Chinn was born in Shelby county, Kentucky, on July 30, 1830, and is a grandson of Thomas Chinn, a native and planter of Virginia, where his father, William S. Chinn, also, was born, his life beginning in 1790. The latter moved from his native state to Shelby county, Kentucky, and lived there until 1834, when he came to this county and located on the site of the present town of Bethel. There he engaged in general farming until about 1845. He then moved to the place on which his son now resides near Shelbyville, and engaged in merchandis- ing in that town, continuing his opera- tions for a period of four years.
But mercantile life was not to his taste, and at the end of the period named he gave it up and returned to farming, which he followed until his death in 1856. He was married in 1811 to Miss Lney S. Chinn, of Kentucky. They had ten children, four of whom are living: Znelda J., the wife of William Hill, of this county; Elijah, whose home is in Clarence; John S., the subject of this memoir; and Charles R., a resident of Webb City, Missouri. The father was a Democrat in politics and a member of the Christian church, to both of which he was loyally and serviceably devoted. Fraternally he was a member of the Ma- sonic order for many years.
attending the country schools and after- ward assisting the family until 1862. In that year he enlisted in the Confederate army under General Price, his regiment being subsequently transferred to the command of General Magruder. He served until the close of the war, seeing a great deal of active service, partici- pating in the battles of Kirksville, Mis- souri, Prairie Grove, Arkansas, Milli- gan's Bend, Pleasant Hill and Shreve- port, Louisiana, and many engagements of less importance. He was mustered out of service at Shreveport, Louisiana, at the close of the war, and returned to his home in this county, where he was continuously and successfully engaged in general farming and raising stock until 1902, when he retired from active pursuits. He is still living on the old homestead, however.
Mr. Chinn was married on September 15, 1858, to Miss Mary J. Pickett, of Shelby county. They have one child, their son Charles R., who is a resident and esteemed and influential citizen of this county. In polities the father has been a life-long Democrat. In fraternal life he has been for many years a mem- ber of the Masonic order, and in religion he communes with the Christian church, to which he has long belonged. In all these organizations he has been a zeal- ons and useful factor, and in all the ele- ments of elevated and serviceable eiti- zenship he has met the full requirements. Having reached the age of four score years, he is crowned with patriarchal honors and his life is mainly retro- spective. But the retrospect is pleasing, for he has lived acceptably and worthily,
John S. Chin was reared on his father's farm, on which he worked while and everybody who has knowledge of
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HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY
him venerates him for his uprightness, son took place in 1833 and resulted in his loyalty to duty and his sterling man- hood.
WILLIAM H. PHIPPS.
Whether in the rage of battle or fury of the charge in the most momentous civil war of modern history. or laboring with all his ardor in the most exacting tasks of peaceful industry at the busiest season of his occupation, William H. Phipps, one of the successful and pro- gressive farmers of Lentner township in this county, has never flunked or shirked his duty. In all the relations of life and under all eireumstanees he has been a true and faithful citizen of his country. and its utmost calls to service have met with a ready and cheerful response from him.
He was born in England on March 25, 1842. and when but three years of age was brought by his parents, George and Mary (Robinson) Phipps, also natives of that country. to the United States. The father was born in 1810 and re- mained in his native land until 1845. In that year he moved his family to this country and located near Rochester. New York. He was very skillful in the work of trimming fruit trees and also in threshing wheat with the flail, and he found plenty of demands on his acquire- ments during the ten years he lived in the East. In 1855 he joined the tide of migration westward. moving to Illinois. where he bought land and followed farm- ing until his death, which occurred in 1891. He was a very energetic and thrifty man and was reasonably sue- cessful in everything he undertook.
Ilis marriage with Miss Mary Robin-
nine children, two of whom are living, William H. and his older brother. George, who lives in Iowa. The father was a man of very good standing. both in the states of New York and Illinois. and enjoyed the respect of the people in every locality in which he lived. The mother. also, was held in high esteem, and both were worthy of the regard of those who knew them on account of the upright lives they lived and the excel- lenee of their citizenship and demeanor in all the relations of human existence.
William H. Phipps was educated in the country schools of central New York, where he was reared, and in 1861, when he was but nineteen years old. fired with the zeal of youth and the patriotism of a man. he enlisted in Com- pany F. Eighth New York cavalry, in defense of the Union. to which he was so warmly attached that he, was willing to risk his life in its behalf. His regi- ment was under the command of Colonel Crook, and he served in it something over three years, being discharged at Rochester. New York. on December S. 1864. The command was in the thick of the fight during the most strenuous years of the momentous conflict. and Mr. Phipps faced death on some of the most famous battle fields of all human his- tory, among them Antietam, Chancel- lorsville and Gettysburg. He also par- ticipated in many minor engagements, and still bears the marks of service in a way that makes them known to all ob- servers. At the battle of Beverly Ford. Virginia, February 6. 1864. he was shot in his right elbow, which caused him to pass four months in Lincoln hospital in
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Washington, D. C., and has left him with a stiff arm ever since, a daily and hourly reminder of the hardships and perils of the awful scenes through which he passed during his military service.
After leaving the army he returned to his New York home and worked on his father's farm until 1867. He then de- termined to seek his fortunes on his own account in the farther West, as it was then, and in a region which, having been wasted by the war, offered great oppor- tunities of advancement to those who would help to rebuild it and continue the development of its resources. Accord- ingly, in the year last named he came to Missouri and located in Shelby county. Here he bought twenty acres of land on which he has been actively and profit- ably engaged in farming and raising stock ever since. Ile has prospered through industry, thrift and good man- agement, and has added to his farm as he has advanced in material acquisitions until now he has 162 acres, the greater part of it under cultivation and yielding excellent returns for the labor, care and intelligence he bestows upon tilling it and developing its resources.
On September 14, 1869, Mr. Phipps was united in marriage with Miss Mar- tha E. Heekard, a daughter of Michael and Rachel (Heckart) Heckard, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Delaware. They came to Shelby county in the early days, and here the father entered a tract of government land, on which he flourished and reared his family. Mr. and Mrs. Phipps have had six children, four of whom are liv- ing, all of them residents of Shelby county. They are: Mary, the wife of
E. B. Robey ; William A., one of the sub- stantial and progressive farmers of Black Creek township; Essie M., the wife of J. E. Hollenbeck, of Shelbina, and Bertha May, the wife of George Coddry. In polities the father is a Republican. He belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic, and he and his wife are mem- bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. They are among the most esteemed and useful citizens in the town- ship of their residence.
JOHN L. KELSO.
Starting in life as a young man with nothing by way of equipment for its strident and exacting warfare but his own faculties and the spirit that con- trolled and directed them, and now one of the most successful and prosperous farmers and stock men of Black Creek township in this county, John L. Kelso presents in his career and achievements a fine illustration of what is possible to industry, frugality and thrift in this land of inexhaustible wealth of every mate- rial kind and almost boundless oppor- tunity in the development, transforma- tion and use of what nature has so boun- tifully bestowed for the service of man- kind.
Mr. Kelso is a native of Shelby county, where he was born on January 12, 1862, and a son of Samnel and Eliza J. (Barr) Kelso, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Delaware. They were married in 1855 and had seven children, five of whom are living: Alvina, the wife of John Foey, a highly respected citizen of Shelby county ; William, whose home is in Colorado ; John L., the subject
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of these paragraphs: Charles. who is land and began farming and raising also a resident of Colorado: and James. stock on his own account. Since then his progress has been more rapid, and he has at length. through arduous effort and close attention to his business. ac- quired a competency and is comfortably fixed, with assurance in his circum- stances against all ordinary calamities and bright prospects for the future. for he is still full of energy and determina- tion. and has all his past experience to guide and help him to greater success and prosperity. and feels every incentive of duty to make the most of his oppor- tunities. He now has 250 acres of good land and nearly all of it at an advanced stage of cultivation. who lives in this county. The father was born in 1828 and came to Missouri in his boyhood with his parents. The family settled in Shelby county. and here he grew to manhood and obtained his edu- cation. He began life as a farmer and continued to follow this avocation until his death. in 1572. He was a Republican in politics and a member of the Southern Methodist church. His success and prog- ress in his farming operations gave promise of making him a man of conse- quence and considerable worldly wealth. but his early death at the age of forty- four cut short his career and left its large promise unfulfilled. his plans in- complete and his family but indifferently provided for.
Orphaned at the age of ten years by the death of his father. John L. Kelso was obliged to make his own way in the world from an early age. He obtained a limited education in the district schools of Shelby county. where he has passed the whole of his life to this time. but his opportunities to attend school were scant and irregular. owing to the circum- stances of the family. who needed what he could earn to aid in its support. He worked out by the month for a meager compensation for a time as a boy and youth. and later for better wages. all the while assisting the family and laying up what he could for himself. He was very frugal and industrious and by very slow accretions succeeded in accumulating a small sum of money. By this toilsome and painful process he climbed slowly upward on the rugged road to prosperity until 1995. when he bought 160 acres of
Mr. Kelso was married on April 7. 1885, to Miss Laura B. Clark. a dangh- ter of James and Isabelle (Graham) Clark. esteemed residents of Shelby county. James. Leta and Elva. the three children born of the union. are all living and still at home with their parents. The father is a Prohibitionist in politics and a member of the Holiness church in re- ligion. His wife also embraced the Holi- ness religion until her death in 1902.
Mr. Kelso was again married in 1904 to Sarah Biglow. a widow of Frank Big- low and a sister of his first wife.
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