USA > Missouri > Shelby County > General history of Shelby County, Missouri > Part 76
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84
He came to the United States when he was about twenty-one years old, and for a short time lived in Rochester, New York. But the West had greater attrae- tion for him. Its great wealth of re- sources called him with a pleading voice and its natural life, unspoiled as yet by the blandishments of social culture, wore for him a winning smile. Accordingly, after a residence of a year in Rochester he moved to Indiana and took up his resi-
dence in Lake county. There he banked cord wood and later became a railroad contractor.
In 1869 he took another flight toward the Rockies, coming to Missouri and lo- cating at Excello, in Macon county. Here he bought a farm and farmed it one year, then moved to Boonville, Cooper county, where death soon afterward robbed him of his wife. From that time to his death, in 1895, he followed railroad contracting almost exclusively. During the greater part of his activity in this country he was highly prosperous, but business re- verses late in life deprived him of much of his gain, and kept him from leaving his children with as good a start in life as he had aimed to give them. He died at the home of his son, John H. Bue, at which he had lived at intervals after the death of his wife.
Mr. Bue, the father, undertook and carried to completion several large works of construction in his contracting days, among them the O. K., M. K., T. & Long division of the Wabash railroad in this part of the country. He was married in New York to Miss Eliza Mooney, and by this marriage became the father of eight children, five of whom are living: John H., the immediate subject of this sketeh ; Mary, the widow of Patrick Lyons, who lives in Bloomington, Illinois; William, who is a resident of Flathead county. Montana; Sarah, the wife of William Garrison, whose home is in the new state of Oklahoma; Charles, who resides at Elwood, Indiana ; Hannah M., the wife of R. W. Tanner, of Idaho, who died in September, 1910. The father was a mem- ber of the Protestant Episcopal church,
ARTHUR L. FREELAND
605
HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY
and was much esteemed for his business enterprise and his estimable qualities as a man and citizen.
John H. Bue obtained his education in the public schools of Merrillville and Ross Station, in Lake county, Indiana, attending them until he reached the age of fourteen years. He then went to work with his father, going from place to place as circumstances required, seeing differ- ent phases of American enterprise and human life and treasuring up the lessons of his experience for future use. He continued working on railroad contracts with his father until 1879, then deter- mined to gratify a long-felt desire and seek a permanent residence and settled occupation. In that year he came to Shel- by county, Missouri, and during the next three years engaged in farming and rais- ing live stock on land which he rented for the purpose. At the end of the period named he bought the farm he had been renting and on it he has made his home and condneted his industries ever since. But as he prospered he added to his land and increased his live stock business. He now owns 210 acres, the greater part of which is under cultivation, and is farmed with intelligence and enterprise. The stock business is carried on in the same spirit, and both are made very profitable by the excellent management which con- trols them in every detail.
Mr. Bue has taken an earnest and helpful interest in the affairs of his town- ship and county, which have felt the quickening impulse of his strong mind and ready hand. He is a school director and has rendered valued service as road overseer. His first marriage, which oc- enrred in 1879, was with Miss Elizabeth
Smith, of Shelby county. They had one child, which died in infancy. The mother also died soon afterward, and on Novem- ber 23, 1883, Mr. Bue contracted a second marriage, uniting with Miss Jennie Lee Pickett, also a Shelby county lady, and daughter of Hiram and Elizabeth ( Rook- wood) Pickett, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of Kentucky, and both long resident in Shelby county, where Mrs. Bue was born on July 19, 1861.
Three children have been born of the second marriage, and two of them are living, a son named William and a daugh- ter named Maybelle Lee, now Mrs. Wil- liam Vanskike, of Knox county. In poli- ties the father is a Democrat and at all times an energetic and effective worker for the success of his party. He and his wife are zealous and devoted members of the Southern Methodist Episcopal church, and are held to be among the most valued workers in its cause, Mr. Bue being one of the stewards of the congregation to which he belongs and looked up to as one of its leading mem- bers. Mr. Bne is interested in breeding superior lines of coach and draft horses and now owns two of the best stallions in the county.
ARTHUR L. FREELAND.
The last three generations of the fam- ily to which Arthur L. Freeland, of Lake- nan, this county, belongs have contrib- uted to the life, activity and productive- ness of four states of the American Un- ion and have done well and been highly esteemed in all. His paternal grand- father, John Freeland, was a native of
606
HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY
Massachusetts and moved in his early manhood to North Carolina, where the father, Francis Freeland, was born on February 27, 1807. While he was but a small boy the family moved to Kentucky, and there he grew to manhood and lived until 1832, extensively engaged in farm- ing and raising live stock after reaching his maturity and becoming one of the noted stock men of the state. In the year last named he moved his own family to Illinois, and in 1866 located in Jackson township, Shelby county, Missouri. There he bought a large tract of land, which he farmed until 1873, when his wife died. He then retired from active pursuits and passed the remainder of his days in case and the comforts of a pro- longed rest, dying at Lakenan on March 13, 1888.
Francis Freeland was married in 1832 to Miss Julia A. Mayhugh, a native of Virginia, born in 1809. She became, by her marriage, the mother of eleven chil- dren. Ten of her offspring grew to ma- turity and six of them are still living- John W .. a resident of Oklahoma ; Field- ing M., who lives at Blackwell, Okla- homa ; Fleming HI., who has his home in Shelbina ; Franklin P., a citizen of Leota, Kansas ; Napoleon B., who is also a resi- dent of Oklahoma; and Arthur L., the immediate subject of this memoir. The father was a Whig in early life, and when the party to which he belonged passed into history and was succeeded by the Republican party, he joined the new or- ganization and adhered to it until his death. His religious affiliation was with the Southern Methodist church.
He was reared to the age of fifteen on his father's farm in Illinois, and began his education in the public schools in its vicinity. At the age of fifteen he accom- panied his parents to Missouri, and lived with them on their farm in Shelby coun- ty until 1885, completing in its public schools, a private school in Shelbyville and the high school in that city the edu- cation he had started in Illinois. After leaving school he became a teacher in the public schools of Shelby county, follow- ing that trying but self-developing voca- tion until 1885. He then started an enter- prise in general merchandising which he conducted for a period of twenty years, his place of business being in Lakenan, of which he was appointed postmaster the same year. He is the postmaster of the city now, having filled the office con- tinuously from his first appointment in 1885, with the exception of four years, and discharged his official duties in con- nection with his mercantile undertaking.
Mr. Freeland sold his store and busi- ness in 1905, and since then he has de- voted his time and attention wholly to the duties of his office and the care of his other interests. He has been successful in his efforts for advancement and now owns land in Pike county and a valuable residence in Lakenan, over both of which he exercises a careful supervision and direction. He has always taken an active interest in politics as a Republican, in fraternal life as a Freemason, holding membership in Shelbina Lodge of the or- der, and in religious affairs as a zealous member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. On October 31, 1872, he was united in marriage with Miss Emma
Arthur L. Freeland was born at Blan- dinsville, Illinois, on August 28, 1851. C. Holliday, of Shelbyville. One child
607
HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY
blessed their union, their daughter Julia E., who is now the wife of Linn L. Byars, of Valley, Nebraska.
Mr. Freeland is an enterprising and progressive man, as is shown by his own success in everything he has undertaken and by his valued contributions in conn- sel, in activity and in material aid to every movement for the development and improvement of the town and county in which he lives and the promotion of the enduring welfare of their people. He is always at the front in all good works- miaterial, political, intellectual and moral -and is esteemed by the people who have had the benefit of his services as one of the most representative and useful men among them. No one stands higher in Lakenan and Shelby county, and the regard in which he is universally held is acknowledged to be based on demon- strated merit.
REV. JAMES JOLLY WILSON.
This venerable and venerated pa- triarch in the Christian ministry, who was a commanding herald of the gos- pel for fifty-six years, and but recently retired from active service in his eho- sen line of beneficence, has passed the eighty-first milestone of his long journey of usefulness through the wilderness of human error in which he has contended against all forms of evil, and is now rest- ing serenely from his labors, secure in the affectionate regard of the people who have so long had the benefit of his minis- trations and the confidence and esteem of the whole body of the citizenship of Shelby and adjoining counties and in many other parts of the country.
Rev. Mr. Wilson was born on March 22, 1829, in Highland county, Ohio, and is a son of Joseph H. and Maria (Jolly) Wilson, also natives of that county, where the father was born on May 6, 1807, and they were married in 1828. The father grew to manhood in that county, and when he was old enough engaged in farming. He also kept a store and oper- ated a tan yard at Petersburg, Ohio, for twenty years, and at the end of that period moved to Oxford, Indiana. There he followed farming until his death, in 1875. He was successful according to the standards of his day, and in all places of his residence rose to consequence and influence among the people. He and his wife became the parents of five children, but only two of them are now living, the interesting subject of this memoir, and his brother, Sanford H., who is a resi- dent of Santa Clara, California. The mother of these children died some years before her husband, and he afterward contraeted a second marriage, uniting in 1856 with Mrs. Priscilla Briden, of Tip- peeanoe county, Indiana. He was an elder in the Presbyterian church and a man of great activity and effectiveness in his congregation.
His son, James Jolly Wilson, began his education in the district schools of his native county and later attended Salem Academy, in Ross county, Ohio, for one year. In 1849 he entered Han- over College, in Indiana, which he at- tended three years. He then entered the ministry and was licensed to preach in 1853 at the church in which he was hap- tized as an infant. He began his career as a preacher in Oxford, Indiana, ocen- pying the pastorate of the Presbyterian
608
HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY
church in that eity three years. In 1857 he eame to Missouri, practically a Chris- tian missionary, and located in Knox county. For a number of years lie preached throughout a large extent of the surrounding country in school houses and country churches, both of which in those days were few in number and it was far between them.
The new comer proved a veritable god- send to the region in which he took up his residence and his useful calling. He served as president of the board of edu- eation in Knox county before the Civil war and under his inspiring influence school houses soon began to rise in many places like exhalations from the ground, and the cause of publie education re- ceived a stimulus that was of the great- est benefit to the county and highly ap- preciated by its inhabitants of that day. Ilis influence as a minister was equally manifest in the quickening of religious spirit among the people, and this also re- sulted in the erection of many new altars for worship.
In 1868 Rev. Mr. Wilson moved to Shelby county, five mlies northwest of Bethel, and there he dwelt and gave him- self to his duties with great and constant devotion until November, 1909, when he retired from all active work in the min- istry and found a restful home in Shel- byville. For forty-five years he had preached in Pleasant Prairie Presby- terian chinreh, besides delivering a great many sermons and addresses in other places, and officiating at numberless other functions belonging to the clergy outside of the pulpit. He was in great demand for funeral services and one of the most popular men in this portion of
the state for uniting young couples in marriage. His genial manner and benignant disposition won him his way to the hearts of the people easily and gave him a specially strong hold on the regard of the young, while his high char- aeter, purity of life and unwavering fidelity to duty established him in gen- eral confidence and esteem so firmly that nothing eould loosen his hold or alienate the people from him, even slightly.
Rev. Mr. Wilson was married on Sep- tember 25, 1851, to Miss Zenetta C. Core, a daughter of John and Mary (Ferneau) Core, residents at that time of Pike eonnty, Ohio, where the marriage took place. Four children were born of the union, but Sandford Core Wilson, of Shelbyville, is the only one of them now living. The father is now a member of Kirksville Presbytery and was chosen moderator of the session in 1904. He was then advanced in years, having passed his three-quarter century mark, but he was hale and vigorous in body, and the session over which he presided found that his mind was as active and keen and its resources were as ready for immediate use as they had ever been. Ilis wisdom and skill in presiding fully justified the confidence of the body ex- pressed in his choice.
The life herein briefly chronicled has been one of ardnous effort, stern endur- ance and uncomplaining self sacrifice. But it has been fruitful in benefits to those among whom it has been passed, and in view of the good results it has so materially helped to bring about, its retrospect cannot but be pleasant to all who know its record, even the good man who has lived it. And all who have knowl-
609
HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY
edge of him and his great work, must re- joiee and do rejoice that the evening of his long day of toil and trial is so mild and benignant. Moreover, all wish him yet many years in which to enjoy it.
FARMERS' BANK OF EMDEN.
This very useful, highly appreciated and widely popular financial institution, which has an exeellent reputation for soundness, progressiveness and the use of good judgment in its management, was founded on April 14, 1904, with a capital of $10,000, and the following offi- eers in control : President, D. S. Sharp; cashier, R. L. Davis; direetors, D. S. Sharp, E. L. Turner, W. S. Wood, Thomas J. Crane, P. H. Couch, U. J. Davis and R. D. Goodwin. In 1906 Marsh. Booker succeeded E. L. Turner. The direc- torate of the bank remained unchanged until January 1, 1908. At that time R. D. Goodwin was elected president and several months later Howard Couch was ehosen eashier, and F. M. Dill vice-presi- dent. The board of directors at present (1910) is composed of R. D. Goodwin, F. M. Dill, W. S. Wood, Thomas J. Crane, P. H. Couch, U. J. Davis and R. A. Humphrey.
The business of the bank has been good and active from its founding and has steadily inereased from year to year. The institution is known throughout this portion of the state, in nearby seetions of adjoining states and in banking cir- eles generally, as one of the soundest and best managed banks of its size and character. Its past record is altogether to its eredit, both as to progress and to safety, and the gentlemen at the head of
it give the best guaranty of its strength and reliability in their personal eharae- ter and standing, and the sueeess with which they have managed other business enterprises with which they are eon- nected in leading ways.
Riehard D. Goodwin, the president and controlling spirit of the bank, is a native of Shelby county and was born near Emden on November 19, 1846. He is a son of Henry H. and Mary (Dur- rett) Goodwin, natives of Virginia. The father was born in Louisa eounty, Vir- ginia, in 1817, and eame to Missouri in 1835. He located in St. Louis county and during the next two years followed farm- ing there. He then came to Shelby county and here he lived until his death, in August, 1910, and was very actively and suecessfully occupied in general farming and raising live stoek until a few years ago, when he retired from ac- tive pursuits. In the early days of his residenee in this state he was a great hunter, the season's regular average tribute to his unerring rifle being twenty- five to forty deer, besides other game in profusion. He divided his land among his children, but before doing this he owned 340 aeres.
This venerable gentleman, who forms a bright and interesting link eonmeeting the early history of this county with the present state of affairs in it, was married in 1843 to Miss Mary Durrett, a daugh- ter of Dr. Richard Durrett, a native of Virginia, but a resident of Shelby county, Missouri, at the time of the marriage. She and her husband became the parents of eleven children, eight of whom are living: Judith, a resident of this eounty ; Richard D. the president of the bank;
610
HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY
Robert, William and Henry, prosperous and highly respected citizens of Shelby county ; Jennie, the wife of George Nor- man; Mary, the wife of James Babb; and Rebecca, the wife of Clay Davis, all also residents of this county. The father was an old-time Democrat in his political faith and allegiance, and his religious connection was with the Missionary Bap- tist church.
His son, Richard D. Goodwin, obtained his education in the district schools of Shelby county, which he attended at in- tervals until he was twenty years old. After leaving school he worked on his father's farm in partnership with his brothers until 1899. He then bought 160 acres of land, which he has increased by subsequent purchases to 195, and on this farm he has carried on for years a very active, successful and profitable general farming and stock breeding enterprise of magnitude in each department and con- ducted with great enterprise, vigor and continual striving for the best results through the application of skill and broad intelligence to the work and ob- servant attention to its every detail.
Mr. Goodwin has been very much in- terested in the bank of which he is now president from the beginning of its his- tory. He was a charter member in its organization and has been one of its firmest and most faithful friends ever uet of his creation. He has taken also a deep interest in the affairs of the com- munity outside of financial circles, help- ing to develop and bring to completion every worthy undertaking for the benefit of his township and county. He is an ardent Democrat in political relations
and has served his party well as town- ship chairman both by appointment and election. He is a member of the Baptist church and one of the trustees of the con- gregation to which he belongs. His wife is an earnest and devoted member of the Christian church. Her maiden name was Anna Moreland, and she is a native of Marion county, in this state, and a daughter of Washington and Isabella (Robertson) Moreland, residents of that county. Her marriage with Mr. Good- win took place on October 19, 1899.
CRAYTON WOODWARD.
As one of the sterling citizens of Shelby county, which has been his home since 1902, when he removed here from the adjoining county of Knox, Mr. Wood- ward is well entitled to consideration in this publication. The major portion of his active business career has been one of close and successful identification with agricultural pursuits, and he is still the owner of a well-improved farm of 184 aeres in Bourbon township, Knox county.
He is now postmaster in the village of Leonard and his circle of friends in the community is limited only by that of his acquaintances, for his life has been such as to merit unqualified popular trust and esteem.
since. What it is now is largely a prod- . pire state of the union as the place of his
Crayton Woodward claims the old Ein- nativity, having been born in Oneida county, New York, on March 30, 1849, be- ing a son of Samuel R. and Mary (La- sure) Woodward, the former a native of Connecticut and the latter of the state of New York, where their marriage was sol- eminized in the year 1845. Of the two
Ke
CRAYTON WOODWARD
611
HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY
children Crayton is the elder and Russell is now a resident of Cedar county, Neb- raska. The father was originally a Whig and later a Republican in politics, and both he and his wife held membership in the Universalist church. Samuel R. Woodward was born in Connecticut in 1829, and was a member of a family of English extraction that was founded in New England in the colonial days of our national history. He was reared and educated in his native state, and he re- moved to the state of New York when a young man. There he was engaged in the navigation of canal boats for a period of twenty years, at the expiration of which, about the year 1865, he removed with his family to Missouri and settled in Knox county, where he purchased a tract of land, becoming one of the fairly successful farmers and stock growers of that county, where he continued to reside until his death, which occurred in 1875. His devoted wife was summoned to the life eternal in 1852.
Crayton Woodward passed his boy- hood days in his native county of New York state, where he was afforded the advantages of the common schools and a well-conducted select school. He was fif- teen years of age at the time of the fam- ily removal to Knox county, Missouri, where he duly assisted in the work of the home farm, being associated with his father until the latter's death, and there- after continuing independent operations as a farmer and stock grower in that county until his removal to Leonard, Shelby county, in 1902. He was known as an energetic and thrifty exponent of the great basic industry of agriculture and was not denied a due measure of
success in connection with his long con- tinned operations in connection there- with. As before stated, he still continues in the ownership of his okl homestead farm, which is well improved and under effective cultivation.
In polities Mr. Woodward is found loy- ally arrayed under the banner of the grand old Republican party, in whose cause he has been an active worker in a local way. He received from Postmaster General Payne appointment to the office of postmaster at Leonard in 1902, under the administration of the lamented Presi- dent Mckinley, and in this position he has since continued the efficient and pop- ular incumbent. He has also served as school director for more than five years past, and is known as a loyal and public spirited citizen. Mrs. Woodward is a member of the Norwegian Lutheran church.
On March 30, 1872, Mr. Woodward was united in marriage to Miss Laura M. Johnson, who was born and reared in Knox county, this state, where her father, the late Cornelius Johnson, was an early settler. Of the six children of this nnion four are living, namely: Sam- nel, a successful farmer of Taylor town- ship, Shelby county; Russell, who now resides in Knox county, Missouri; An- gustus, who is a twin of Russell, and who is identified with agricultural pursnits in Shelby county ; and Guy, who remains on the old homestead in Knox county.
CECILIUS C. CALVERT.
Although he bears a distinguished name and had men of promience and in- fluence among his ancestors, Cecilius C.
612
HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY
Calvert, present postmaster of Emden, in this county, is a modest gentleman of merit, and makes no claim to recognition except what he presents in his character, his conduct as a man and his usefulness as a citizen. He is a native of Missouri, born on April 1, 1844, in Marion county, but his grandfather, also named Cecil- ius, was born and reared in England and came to the United States in his young manhood, locating in Virginia before the formation of the Federal Union. From Virginia he moved to Missouri in 1818 and took up his residence in what is now Marion county, where he died in 1850.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.