USA > Missouri > Shelby County > General history of Shelby County, Missouri > Part 73
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William L. Gillaspy was reared to ma- turity on the old homestead farm in Tay- lor township and his early educational advantages were those afforded in the pioneer schools of the locality. He con- tinued to attend school at intervals until he had attained to the age of nineteen years, and thus he laid effective foun- dation for the large fund of practical knowledge which he later gained in the school of experience. He continued to be associated in the work and manage- ment of the home farm until 1860, when he purchased from his father a tract of eighty acres in section 24, that township, where he continued to be actively and successfully engaged in general farming
and stock-growing until 1886, when he sold the farm and removed to the village of Leonard, where he has since lived a retired life, having an attractive home and here enjoying the generous rewards of past endeavors. He developed his land into one of the valuable farms of the county and through its operation and the final sale of the property he has real- ized a competency. Mr. Gillaspy is one of the substantial and highly esteemed citizens of his native county, sincere, honorable and of generous and kindly nature, so that he has won and retained a wide circle of friends in the community that has represented his home from the time of his nativity to the present. He is a staunch supporter of the cause of the Democratic party, has shown a loyal interest in all that has touched the gen- eral welfare, and has served as constable and also as school director. Both he and his wife hold membership in the Christian church.
On August 29, 1860, Mr. Gillaspy was united in marriage to Miss Mary Ann Davis, who was born in Snowhill, Mary- land. on July 10, 1840. being a daughter of James and Eliza Davis, who took up their residence in Shelby county, Mis- sonri, when she was a child. Mr. and Mrs. Gillaspy became the parents of ten children, and the family circle remains still unbroken. Concerning the children the following brief record is given, in conclusion of this sketch of the career of one of the county's sterling citizens : Edwin E. is a resident of the city of Hannibal, this state; James L. is a sue- cessful farmer in Taylor township, as is also Richard W .; James P. is engaged in the same line of enterprise in Clay
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township; Effie M. is the wife of Robert S. Magruder, of Clarence, this county; Anna L. is the wife of John Kyle, of Rush county, Kansas; Callie B. is the wife of William Pepper, of Ranchester, Wyoming; George C. is a representative farmer of Taylor township; William N. is a resident of La Crosse, Kansas; and Fannie remains at the parental home.
JACOB H. SINGLETON.
It is gratifying to be able to present in this historical compilation record con- cerning so large a percentage of the es- sentially representative farmers who are ably aiding in upholding the industrial prestige of the county, and among this number is he whose name introduces this paragraph. Mr. Singleton is the owner of a well improved farm in Taylor town- ship, is a citizen to whom is accorded unqualified popular esteem, and is a na- tive son of the township in which he now maintains his home. He is a brother of Judge Adolphus E. Singleton, of whom individual mention is made on other pages of this volume, so that detailed review of the family history is not de- manded in this article.
Jacob H. Singleton was born in Tay- lor township, this county, on October &, 1857, and is a son of William and Susan (Vandiver) Singleton, both natives of Virginia, where the former was born in 1817 and the latter in 1824. The pater- nal grandfather, Myron Singleton, was likewise a native of the Old Dominion, in which was eradled so much of our national history, and there the family was founded in the colonial epoch. Will- iam Singleton was reared to maturity in
his native state and came to Missouri in the pioneer days, first locating in Marion county, whence he soon afterward re- moved to Shelby county, becoming one of the pioneers of Taylor township, where he secured 200 acres of govern- ment land, which he eventnally re- claimed, developing a productive farm and becoming one of the honored and substantial citizens of the county. He continued to be actively identified with the great basic industries of farming and stock-raising throughout his entire business career, save for one year passed in the village of Clarence, this county, and he was summoned to "that undis- covered country from whose bourne no traveler returns" in the year 1894. He was a loyal supporter of the cause of the Democratic party and both he and his wife, who is still living, became known as zealous members of the M. E. church, South. Of their eight children five are now living, namely: Benjamin II., a resident of Shelbyville; Judge Adolphus E., of the same city; Jacob H., subject of this sketeb; and Ella and Cary, who re- main with their widowed mother on the old homestead.
Jacob H. Singleton was reared to the sturdy discipline of the home farm and the district schools afforded him his early educational advantages. He con- tinned at the parental home, assisting in the work and management of the farm, umtil 1886, when he purchased seventy acres of land in section 33, Taylor town- ship, where he continued operations as a thrifty and progressive farmer and stock-grower, having added to the area of his original tract until he now has a well improved farm of 134 acres, all of
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which is available for cultivation. He is a Democrat in his political allegiance, takes a loyal interest in public affairs of a local order, was ineumbent of the office of school director of his district, is affil- iated with the Modern Woodmen of America, and both he and his wife are zealous members of the Christian church at Leonard.
On October 3, 1886, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Singleton to Miss Vassie MeDaniel, who was born in this county, being a daughter of Cornelius and Susan MeDaniel and a member of one of the old and honored families of this section of the state. Mr. and Mrs. Singleton became the parents of eight children, and the four living children all remain at the parental home, namely : Leila, Clark V., Guy and Vance, who are popular young folk of this part of the county.
ALEXANDER BURNETT.
One of the most successful and enter- prising farmers of the present day and having made his own way to his present consequence and standing in the estima- tion of the people, Alexander Burnett, of Black Creek township, Shelby county, has richly earned his prosperity in worldly wealth and shown himself to be a man of great energy and resourceful- ness, warmly interested in the welfare of the people of his township and county, and at all times ready to exert himself wisely and effectively in their behalf. His devotion to the interests of the region in which he lives has won him the universal confidence and esteem of its inhabitants and given him a strong hold on public regard in other parts of the state.
Mr. Burnett was born in Sauk county, Wisconsin, on July 10, 1855. He is the oldest son and second child of his par- ents, Thomas and Isabella (Osborn) Burnett, the former a native of Scotland, where his parents were also born and the families were domesticated many years. The father was born in 1824 and came to the United States with his parents in 1838. During the next seven years the family lived in the city of New York, but in 1845 moved to Wisconsin, and in 1858 moved to Iowa, and there the father was actively engaged in general farming un- til his death, which occurred on October 11, 1887. His marriage took place in 1851, and by it he became the father of seven children, all of whom are living. They are: Mary, the wife of Gilbert Palmer, of Aledo, Illinois; Alexander, the subject of this review; Malissa, the wife of John Brown, of Des Moines, Iowa; Robert, Grant and Thomas, all of whom live in Iowa; and Zachariah, who is a resident of Jacksonville, Missouri. The father was a Republican in politics and a Baptist in church affiliation. The mother was a native of Indiana. She died in Iowa in May, 1898.
Their son Alexander grew to manhood on his father's farm in Iowa and ob- tained his education in the country schools and the high school at Bonaparte, in that state. For two years after leav- ing school he elerked in a dry goods store in Des Moines, then passed one year working again with his father on the farm. At the end of that period he moved to Shelby county, Missouri, and during the next three years worked for Alonzo Cooper. His next step in business was general merchandising, which he fol-
ALEXANDER BURNETT
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HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY
lowed for two years. Since then he has been continuously and very progres- sively engaged in general farming and raising stoek on a steadily increasing scale of magnitude and profit. He now owns and cultivates 800 acres and has a live stock industry in proportion, all of which he has acenmulated by his own energy, thrift and wise management, having become one of the leading and most successful farmers and stoek men in this part of the state.
Mr. Burnett was united in marriage with Miss Eliza B. Hopper on November 20, 1879. She is a daughter of Solomon and Eliza (Graham) Hopper, well known residents of Shelby county. Five chil- dren have been born of the union, three of whom are living-David E., one of the prosperous and influential citizens of this county, and Martin and Mabel, who are still living at home with their par- ents. The father's political affiliation is with the Democratic party and his fra- ternal connections are with the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America. Mrs. Burnett belongs to the M. E. Church, South. Mr. Burnett is a gentleman of sterling integrity and universally re- garded as one of the most estimable, in- fluential and commendable men in the county, numbering his friends by the host and performing every duty of citi- zenship with fidelity, intelligence and great breadth of view.
CHRISTIAN P. GLAHN.
The honored subject of this memoir was long numbered among the repre- sentative exponents of the great basic
industry of agriculture in Shelby county, having been the owner of a finely im- proved homestead farm in Black Creek township, and having ever commanded the high regard of the people of the community in which he so long lived and labored to goodly ends,-an honest, np- right, unassuming gentleman, a devoted husband and father, and a man to whom friendship was ever inviolable. He left the heritage of a good name and it is most consonant that in this history be incorporated and perpetuated a tribute to his memory as one of the worthy citi- zens of the county. He was summoned to the life eternal on April 24, 1906, se- eure in the esteem and respect of all with whom he had come in contact in the varied relations of life.
Christian P. Glahn was born in Prus- sia, on January 17, 1839, and was a son of Christian and Mary A. (Wand) Glalın, the former of whom was born in Prussia and the latter in Germany. The parents severed the ties that bound them to their fatherland and immigrated to America in 1842, making Missouri their destina- tion and first settling near Palmyra, Marion county, where the father bought a farm, the work of which was princi- pally done by his sons. He himself was a wagon maker by trade, being a skilled artisan in this line, and he followed his trade in the village of Palmyra until 1865, when he removed with his family to Shelby county and purchased a small farm in Black Creek township, gradually adding to its area as his financial cir- cumstanees justified, until he became the owner of a valuable landed estate of 400 aeres, in the vicinity of Hager's Grove. He continued to be identified with agri-
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cultural pursuits on this place until his Mr. Glahn never sought publie office, but death, which occurred in 1889, his wife surviving him by several years and both having been held in high regard as folk of sterling worth of character. They became the parents of thirteen children, of whom five are living: Henry F., a farmer of Shelby county; Angust, re- siding at Los Angeles, California; Jo- sephi, twin of Angust, engaged in farm- ing in California; Benjamin L., a resi- dent of Clarence, Shelby county; and Catherine, wife of Irving Lathrop, of Joplin, Missouri.
Christian P. Glalın, the subject of this memoir, was about four years of age at the time of the family immigration to America, and he passed the days of his boyhood and youth in Marion county, this state, where he was reared on and assisted in the work of the home farm and where his educational training, very limited in scope, was secured in the dis- triet schools of the pioneer days. In 1865 he eame to Shelby county with the other members of the family and soon afterward he purchased 128 aeres of land in section 6. Black Creek township, two miles south of the village of Leonard, where he developed a productive farm. making excellent improvements on the same, and where he continued to be known as a thrifty and snceessful farmer and stoek-grower until the close of his life, on April 24, 1906. As his success became cumulative he made judicions in- vestments in additional land, and at the time of his demise he was the owner of a valuable estate of 873 aeres, which is still in possession of the family and which constitutes one of the model farm properties of this section of the state.
his influence and co-operation were de- manded by his appreciative neighbors, who called upon him to serve as road overseer and as school director. He was essentially loyal and publie-spirited as a citizen and did all in his power to fur- ther the material and civie prosperity of the county in which he so long main- tained his home and in which he was not denied the most generous measure of popular confidence and regard. based upon his intrinsic integrity and honor and his kindliness in his relations with his fellow men. He gave a stanneh alle- gianee to the cause of the Republican party, and was a zealous and devoted member of the Christian church, with which his wife also has long been identi- fied, having taken an active part in its work until the infirmities of advancing years compelled her to relax somewhat her earnest efforts in this respect. Since the death of her honored husband Mrs. Glahn has remained on the old home- stead, endeared to her through the gra- cious associations and memories of the past, and the fine farm has its practical management assigned to her worthy sons, who are numbered among the rep- resentative citizens of this part of the county, where they are well upholding the prestige of the honored name which they bear.
On February 22, 1870, Mr. Glahn gave worthy observation of the anniversary of the birth of George Washington by taking unto himself a wife, in the person of Miss Mary Arnett. who was born in Shelby county, on September 11. 1852, and who is a daughter of the late Mica- jah and Judith (Green) Arnett, who
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were early settlers of this county, the father having been a native of Kentucky and the mother of Virgina. As already stated, Mrs. Glahn survives her honored husband, as do also eleven of their chil- dren. Concerning the children the fol- lowing brief record is given as a fitting conclusion of this brief memoir: Ben- jamin F. is engaged in the practice of law in the village of Palmyra, Marion county; Fannie is the wife of Robert Ray, a farmer of this county; Christian P. is engaged in the practice of medicine at Palmyra; Charles E., James O. and Ernest are associated in the manage- ment of the home farm; Mary is the wife of Stephen A. Bryant, of Cleveland, Oklahoma; and Ahna, Ethel, Milton and Gertrude remain with their mother on the old homestead.
JOHN PEOPLES.
This venerable and honored citizen, who resided on his fine homestead farm in section 29, Taylor township, was a resident of Shelby county from his child- hood days and was a member of one of its sterling pioneer families, of which detailed mention is made in the sketch of the career of his brother. William Z. T. Peoples, on other pages of this work, so that a repetition of the data is not demanded in the present connection. Mr. Peoples lived retired for a number of years, after having devoted a long period to the great basic industry of agriculture, in connection with which he gained definite success and prosperity, as is attested by his ownership of the valuable homestead on which he resided until his death on January 11, 1911.
John Peoples was a native of Sullivan county, Tennessee, where he was born on September 6, 1833, and he was a child of about six years at the time of the fam- ily removal to Missouri, his parents first settling in Marion county, whence they removed to Shelby county about one year later. Here he was reared to maturity under the invigorating and somewhat strenuous discipline of the pioneer farm, in Taylor township, in whose primitive schools he gained his limited educational training. He often recalled the scenes, conditions and incidents of the days when this section was practically a wil- derness, and he assisted in the breaking of many acres of the fine prairie land, in which connection he contributed mate- rially to the development of the county in which he continued to maintain his home through the long intervening years, marked by the upbuilding of one of the most prosperous and attractive sections of the state. In 1861 Mr. Peoples ini- tiated his independent career as a farmer and stock-grower, and in this line of en- terprise he labored earnestly and effec- tively, so that he was not denied a due recompense. He lived virtually retired since 1885, and his homestead farm, equipped with substantial improvements and under effective enltivation, com- prises 183 acres, which he disposed of in 1909.
Mr. Peoples gave his support to the enterprises and objects that have con- served industrial and civie progress, and his influence in the community was over on the right side, as he was a man of inflexible integrity and honor, of mature judgment and of strong mentality. In polities he was aligned as a staunch ad-
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vocate of the principles and policies of the Democratic party. He held member- ship in the Grange, and was a zealous member of the Christian church at Leon- ard, in which he had been an elder for many years. At the time of the Civil war he served about six months in the state militia.
In 1860 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Peoples to Miss Minerva Patton, who was born in Kentucky, from whence her parents came to Missouri when she was a child. She died in 1865, and of her two children one is living, Eldridge, who is a successful farmer of Custer county, Nebraska. In 1868 Mr. Peoples contracted a second marriage, being then united to Miss Amanda Fink, who was born in Shelby county, where her father, the late John Fink, was an early settler. Of the seven children of this union four are now living: William, a resident of Shelbyville; Christine, wife of George Jarrell, of this county; Laura, wife of Louis Perry, of Shelby county; and John, who is identified with agricultural pursuits in this county. The mother of these children died August 6, 1881.
BENJAMIN F. VAN VACTER.
This well known and highly esteemed business man and influential citizen of the village of Leonard, where he is en- gaged in the real estate business, is a native of Shelby county and a scion of one of its sterling pioneer families, as his father, Benjamin Van Vacter, here took up his abode more than eighty years ago, having settled in Taylor township when this section was a veritable wilder- ness, wild game being plentiful and pro-
viding much for the larders of the sturdy pioneers, whose slumbers were often in- terrupted by the howls of the predatory wolves. The subject of this sketch re- calls many of the scenes and conditions of the pioneer epoch, and he has not only witnessed but has also assisted in the development of this county into one of the most attractive and prosperous in the great state of Missouri.
Mr. Van Vacter was born on the old homestead of liis father, in Taylor town- ship, this county, one mile east of the present village of Leonard, February 5, 1846. His father was born in Jefferson county, Virginia, of staunch Holland Dutch ancestry, in the year 1797, and he was reared to maturity in the historie Old Dominion state, where he continued to reside and where he followed agricul- tural pursuits until 1837, when he set forth for the wilds of the far West, as Missouri was then considered on the very frontier. Soon after his arrival in this state he came to Shelby county, which at that time had very few settlers, and here he entered claim to 400 acres of government land, the entire tract being in a state of primitive wildness. Ile here set himself vigorously to the stren- uons work of reclaiming his land to culti- vation and in due time lie developed one of the productive farms of the county, continuing to reside on his homestead, one mile cast of Leonard, until his deatlı, which occurred in February, 1866. He was one of the honored and influential citizens of this section of the country, honest and straightforward in all the re- lations of life, industrious and energetic, and possessed of strong mentality and individuality, so that he was not denied
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the confidence and good will of the com- munity in whose upbuilding he so ably assisted. He was a staunch adherent of the Democratic party and both he and his wife were zealous members of the Christian church, having been organizers of the church of this denomination in Leonard and having contributed liber- ally to its support. In 1840 was sol- emnized the marriage of Benjamin Van Vacter to Miss Anna Smith, who was born in Ireland, and whose death oc- curred about 1901. They became the parents of five children, and the three surviving all continue their residence in Shelby county, namely: Joseph H., Ben- jamin F. and Robert O.
Benjamin Franklin Van Vaeter, to whom this brief sketch is dedicated. was reared on the pioneer farm, to whose work he early began to contribute his quota of aid, and he continued to attend the district schools in Taylor township, at varying intervals, during the days of his boyhood and youth, laying in these primitive institutions the foundations for the broad and practical knowledge he has since gained under the direction of that wisest of head-masters, experience. He continued to be associated in the work and management of the home farm until the death of his honored father, after which he engaged in farming and stock-growing on his own responsibility on a farm of 120 acres deeded to him by his father at the time of death. This homestead, in section 20, Taylor town- ship, continued to be his place of abode and the scene of his enterprising and snc- cessful endeavors as a general agricul- turist and stock-grower until 1884, when he sold the property and removed to the
village of Leonard, where he entered into partnership with Theodore P. Man- uel and engaged in the general merehan- dise business, under the firm name of Van Vaeter & Mannel. About four years later he sold his interest in this enter- prise to his partner, and since that time he has given his attention principally +o the dealing in real estate in the state of Kansas, in which connection his opera- tions have been of no inconsiderable scope and importance, and have been a source of distinctive profit to him. He is one of the substantial citizens and business men of his native county, was one of the organizers and incorporators of the Farmers' Bank, of Leonard, in which he is still a stockholder and of which he served as vice-president for a short period. In politics he is a stauneli adherent of the Democratic party, and in earlier years he was a zealous and effective worker in its local ranks. He is a member of the Christian church and is active in the support of the various departments of its work. Mr. Van Vac- ter takes a loyal interest in all that tends to advance the material and civic pros- perity of his native county, and measures and enterprises of a public order receive his earnest support.
LUTHER KEMP.
This well known citizen of Taylor township is the owner of a fine farm of 220 acres and is contributing his quota to upholding the prestige of the great industry of agriculture in Shelby county. He has been a resident of Shelby connty since his boyhood days, and in the sec- tion in which he was reared and is best
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known he enjoys the most unqualified popularity and esteem, showing that he has directed his course in such a way as to merit this pleasing recognition.
Luther Kemp claims the staunch old Hoosier commonwealth as the place of his nativity, as he was born in Dubois county, Indiana, on June 21, 1869, being a representative of one of the pioneer families of that state, as his grand- father, William F. Kemp, was an early settler in the county mentioned, having there been engaged in agricultural pur- suits until his death. In the same county also was born James L. Kemp, father of him whose name initiates this article, the date of his nativity having been 1846. The father was reared to man- hood in Indiana, was there married and there continued to devote his attention to farming until 1874, when he removed with his family to Missouri and settled in Clay township, Shelby county, where he purchased a farm of eighty acres, to whose area he later added until he had a total of 138 acres. He made excellent improvements on his farm, and there continued to be successfully engaged in the carrying on of diversified agricul- ture and the raising of live stock until his death, which occurred in the year 1882. In polities he gave his support to the cause of the Republican party and he was a loyal and upright citizen, com- manding the respect of all who knew him. In 1868 he was nited in marriage to Miss Caroline Griffith, who was born in Ohio, and of their five children, two are living, the subject of this sketch being the elder, and William G., also being a prosperous farmer of Shelby county.
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