USA > Missouri > Shelby County > General history of Shelby County, Missouri > Part 84
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HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY
John D. The father died in 1868 and the mother in 1874.
Before coming to Missouri the family lived for a number of years in Schuyler county, Illinois, and there Jolm D. Ed- wards was born in 1841. He attended the district schools near his home and as- sisted his father on the farm, taking an earnest interest in the welfare of the family and doing all he could to help it along. At the age of fifteen he accom- panied his parents to this state and re- mained with them until he attained his majority. In August, 1862, he enlisted in Company B, Ninety-first Illinois Vol- unteer Infantry, in defense of the Union, and was soon afterward in the midst of unrolling columns on some of the historic battle fields of our Civil war. He took part in the battles of Mobile, Fort Blake- ley and others of importance, and also in many minor engagements.
After the close of the war Mr. Ed- wards returned to his Missouri home, and for a time worked at the carpenter trade, of which he had previously ac- quired some knowledge. He then again turned his attention to farming, and con- tinned his operations in that line until 1899, when he retired from all active pur- suits. He was married at Shelbyville on February 10, 1867, to Miss Elizabetlı Delmer, a daughter of Sebastian and Mary Dehner, natives of Germany, who came to this country and Missouri many years ago and located in Shelby county, where Mrs. Edwards was born and grew to womanhood. She and her husband became the parents of six children, five of whom are living: James E., who mar- ried Miss Louisa Bowman; Eliza, the wife of Hugh Wheeler; Milby I., whose
wife was Miss Fanny Eliza Copenhaver; John F., who married Miss Grace Al- bright, and Nina K., the wife of Charles Getchal. They are all upright and use- ful citizens, and are everywhere esteemed highly as such.
In political faith and allegiance the father is a pronounced Republican, with an earnest interest in the welfare of his party, and a heart and hand ever ready to promote its success. He keeps alive the agreeable and reminiscent features of his military service, without the bit- terness of feeling that prevailed during the experiences they recall, by zealous and active membership in the Grand Army of the Republic. He is also a member of the Methodist church. In the affairs of the township and county he has always taken an earnest interest, mani- festing this in a practical way by giving the people excellent service as a member of the school board for upwards of five years.
WILLIAM K. GUNBY.
All of the sixty-three years so far passed in the life of this enterprising and progressive farmer of Clay town- ship, Shelby county, have been spent in the county except those which found him a soldier in the Union army during the Civil war, and they have all been em- ployed in usefulness to the locality in which he lived since he arrived at years of discretion and the power to labor and produce. He was born in Shelby county in March, 1847, and is a grandson of Kirk Gunby, a native of Maryland who commanded a regiment of the Colonial troops at the Revolutionary battle of
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HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY
Momouth. His youngest son, Stephen Gunby, the father of William K., was also born and reared in Maryland, where his life began in 1817. He came to Mis- souri in 1836, when he was but nineteen years old, and took up his residence in Shelby county. Here he became a farmer of prominence and won a substantial es- tate by his industry, thrift and good management.
In 1846 he was married to Miss Mary Ann Coard, also a native of Maryland, where her father, William Coard, also was born. Of the five children born of the union only two are living, William K. and his brother, Thomas Samuel. Their mother died in 1859, and in 1860 the father married Miss Elizabeth Bynum, who is still living. By her mar- riage to Mr. Gunby she became the mother of four children: Martha, the wife of A. Crutcheoin ; Isabella, the wife of R. MeRea ; Elizabeth, the wife of Wil- liam Hollyman, and Anna, the wife of W. H. MeRea.
William K. Gunby attended the dis- triet school at Bacon Chapel, and later a private school in Shelbina. He then passed five or six months in the study of law, but not finding this to his taste, abandoned the profession and became a farmer. He has adhered to his chosen occupation ever since and has been very successful in it. His farming operations are extensive and are conducted with great vigor, intelligence and a wide and accurate knowledge of the requirements of the soil and the demands of the mar- kets. The farm is well improved with commodious and comfortable buildings and fully provided with everything
needed for cultivating it in an intensive and highly productive manner, and it makes excellent returns to the persuasive hand of skillful husbandry which con- trols it.
Mr. Gunby was married in 1869 to Miss Perthrah Jackson, a daughter of Thomas and Mary Jackson, natives of Tennessee who came to Missouri many years ago and located in Shelby county, where Mrs. Gunby was born and reared, and where she obtained her education. She and her husband became the parents of five children, four of whom are liv- ing: Stella Augusta, Lily Trene, the wife of Ford Brown ; Clara Ethel, and Lanius Wesley, a Methodist minister in South- ern California.
During the Civil war the father en- listed in the Union army in Company D, Fourteenth Missouri Cavalry, serv- ing as a private soldier. In his political faith and activity in national affairs he is allied with the Democratic party, and active in its service. But in local affairs his first consideration is the good of the township and county, and partisan in- terests are always secondary, if they are taken into the account at all. He served faithfully and acceptably as a member of the school board upwards of five years, and was also road overseer for a num- ber of years. In religions affiliations he is allied with the Southern Methodist elmirch, and for many years has taken very active part in all church work, hold- ing in succession every office in the gift of the congregation to which he belongs. His wife died on July 15, 1908, after nearly forty years of commendable do- mestie life.
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HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY
WILLIAM T. HART.
The chances and changes of location and employment are many and various in American life, and so extensively nu- merous that a man who starts in one oceupation at twenty or twenty-one is very frequently found pursuing a dif- ferent one at forty. The career of Will- iam T. Hart, of Shelbina, one of the best known and most esteemed livery men and horse dealers in this part of the state, furnishes a striking illustration of the general truth of this statement. He began life for himself as a farmer and live stock man, occupations to which he had been reared, and is now eonducting an active business in the service of the public and carrying on an extensive trade in horses.
Mr. Hart is of old Kentucky stock, his father and his grandfather having been born and "bred in old Kentucky," and it may be due to this faet that he is so fond of horses. The father, James T. Hart, came to Missouri to live in 1846. He located in Monroe county, where he taught school for a number of years. He then turned his attention to farming and also to dealing in tobacco in Shelbina. His son, William T. Hart, was born in this county on March 2, 1857. The father was a sneeessful farmer and merchant, and a man of prominence and influence in the several communities in which he lived. He lived a useful life, was a de- vout member of the Methodist church, and died in 1898.
He was married twice. The first time to a Miss Kerriek, a native of Kentucky. They had three children, all of whom are deceased. Their mother died in 1850,
and in 1853 the father married a seeond time, being united on this occasion with Miss Elizabeth Doctor, who was born in Ohio. Six children were born of this union, all of whom are living: John T., a resident of this eounty; William T., whose home is in Shelbina; W. H., who lives in Knox county, Missouri; S. P., who is a prosperous citizen of California ; Harriet, the wife of H. W. Frye, of Kan- sas City, Missouri; and F. B., who is a resident of Monroe county, this state. Their mother died in March, 1898.
William T. Hart had no educational facilities except those furnished by the district schools of Monroe county, and was not allowed to attend them with strict regularity or for a very long period. The work on his father's farm required every force available, and he was obliged to take his share of it at an early age. After finally leaving school he continued to work for his father on the home place a few years, then located on a farm of 340 acres and began farm- ing and raising live stock on his own ae- count, the farm being located in Monroe connty. His operations were extensive in both industries on this farm, but he gave especial attention to raising and feeding large quantities of stock for the markets.
In 1907 he moved to Shelbina and be- gan the career as a livery and horse salesman, for which he has become dis- tinguished throughout a large extent of the surrounding country. His barn is well equipped for its purposes, the serv- ice given its patrons is first class, and everything pertaining to it is up to the highest level of excellence in the busi- ness. His dealings in horses are exten-
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HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY
sive, and these, too, are governed by the most scrupulous exactness and alto- gether satisfying to those who have a share in them as purchasers. He con- duets his business as a horse dealer in a way that removes from his transactions the reproach often attached to this line of mercantile life and raises it to a rank which has won him high approval and general popularity.
On February 25, 1878, Mr. Hart was nnited in marriage with Miss Belle Rob- ertson, a native of this state. They have had four children, two of whom are liv- ing. James, who resides in Shelbina, and Carl, who is still at home with his parents. The father is a Democrat in politics, an Odd Fellow and a Modern Woodman of America in fraternal life, and he and his wife are members of the Methodist church in religions connec-
tion. His party, his lodges and his church receive a fair share of his atten- tion, and their interests always have his earnest and helpful support.
The affairs of his city and county also enlist his attention and have the benefit of his advice and assistance. No enter- prise for their improvement or the wel- fare of their people escapes liis notice or goes without his aid. He is public spirited and progressive, desiring ad- vancement for his community only along wholesome lines of progress and its ele- vation only by means of enduring valne. He stands well in the city and county, and is favorably known and regarded as a man and citizen in much of the adjoin- ing territory, and wherever else the peo- ple have knowledge of his worth, his en- terprise and his devotion to his state.
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