USA > Missouri > Bates County > History of Bates County, Missouri > Part 34
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Joseph Walters, his father, a Kentuckian by birth, was taken by his parents to Indiana and thence to Illinois, where he spent the days of his youth under primitive conditions. He was married near Terre Haute, Indiana, to Margaret Burkhart, who was born in Indiana. In the early forties, Joseph Walters came to Missouri and first made a settlement in the southern part of the state, but, conditions not being to his liking, he settled in Cass county, where he lived until 1849 and then came to Bates county, settling in Pleasant Gap township, where his death occurred at the age of eighty-five years. Mrs. Walters attained the great age of ninety-six years and at the time of her death was the oldest pioneer woman of Bates county. They were parents of sixteen
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children, nine sons and seven daughters, six of whom are yet living: Nelson, on the old homestead in Pleasant Gap township; John Robert. subject of this review; Mrs. Mollie Brownfield, state of Washington; Solomon, living near Harrisonville; Mrs. Malinda Thomas, at the old family homestead in Pleasant Gap township; James, who makes his home in California ; and Joseph, lives in Colorado.
J. R. Walters made his home with his parents until the outbreak of the Civil War. Inasmuch as it appeared necessary for him to serve on one side of the conflict, he chose to side with the Union and accordingly went to Paoli, Kansas, and enlisted in Company E, Ninth Kansas Cav- alry, in the year 1863. This regiment operated along the border and in Arkansas, being on continuous scouting duty and engaging in battle with roving bands of Confederates and the dreaded guerrillas who infested the border states. They had several "mixups" with Quantrill's gang of freebooters and he was engaged in the battle of Buell Bayou. He received his honorable discharge from the service at DuBall's Bluffs, Arkansas, and made his way homeward by boat to St. Louis, where he and his comrades were paid off, discharged, and mustered out of service at Leavenworth. Kansas. He returned directly to Bates county and set about repairing the ravages made during the war, the Walters home having been destroyed and the livestock dispersed during his absence. In 1891, he bought his present home place and is owner of sixty-six acres of well-improved land. Mr. Walters has one of the finest Short- horn herds in the county and takes considerable pride in his fine live- stock.
His marriage with Belle Veda Walker, a native of Illinois, took place in 1874 and they have reared a large family of thirteen children of fourteen born to them. The children are as follow: Henry C., living on his father's place; William, Butler, Missouri; Lucy, Mrs. Homer Jenkins, Lone Oak township: Edward, living in Colorado; Mary, wife of Frank Nafus, Lone Oak township ; Charles, a farmer in Vernon county, Missouri: Joseph, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Lizzie, wife of Aleck Cameron, Kansas ; Harry, living in Idaho: Nellie, wife of Clifford Nafus, Pleasant Gap township: Jennie, wife of Ward Carpenter, living near Appleton, Missouri : Annie, resides at home ; and Elijah, at home.
Mr. Walters is a Republican in politics as was his father before him. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic.
George W. Thompson, of Elkhart township, a well-known horseman and stockman, was born in Calhoun county, Illinois, in 1850, a son of (24)
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Charles W. and Julia (Anderson) Thompson. Charles W. Thompson was a native of New York who removed to Calhoun county, Illinois and there married Julia Anderson, a native of Kentucky. He departed this life in 1853. His widow later married Dr. G. W. Christopher. To Charles W. and Julia Thompson were born three children: James, who died in Illi- nois ; Charles, who was drowned in Calhoun county at the age of twenty- five years ; and George W., subject of this review. Elizabeth, an adopted daughter, makes her home with the subject of this sketch. After the mother's marriage with Dr. Christopher, the family returned to Indiana and resided there for a number of years and then came again to Illinois, where the mother died in 1872. In 1876, Dr. G. W. Christopher and his family came to Bates county, and located in Elkhart township on the farm now owned by G. W. Thompson. For some time after coming here, Doctor Christopher practiced his profession while developing his farm. He became widely known as a successful physician. He resided here until his death in 1890. To Dr. and Mrs. Christopher were born two children, Nancy Ann, the oldest, deceased; and Francis Marion, of Elkhart township.
At the time G. W. Thompson came to Bates county, much of the land was open prairie and the countryside was thinly settled. Good land could be purchased for as low as six and seven dollars an acre and it was practically necessary for Mr. Thompson to place all the needed improvements on his place. The Thompson farm consists of one hun- dred forty acres of land with splendid improvements thereon. The farm is noted for its fine livestock. Mr. Thompson is the owner of a very valuable stallion of the American Shire breed which is considered to be one of the finest animals of its kind in the county. He raises Duroc Jersey and Poland China hogs and high-grade Shorthorn cattle. Mr. Thompson keeps a considerable part of his land in pasture and produces much grain and hay. No better nor more productive farm of its size is to be found anywhere in this section of Missouri than the Thompson place.
Mr. Thompson is a Republican in his political affiliations and takes an active part in the affairs of his party, being accounted one of the Republican leaders of the county. He has filled the post of road fore- man several times and is a member of the Farmers' Union and of the Methodist Episcopal church.
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James F. Gragg, owner of a splendid tract of three hundred twenty acres of highly productive land in Mound township, located four miles south of Adrian, was born July 16, 1850, in Macoupin county, Illinois, on a farm located three miles south of the town of Bunker Hill. He is a son of John and Mary (King) Gragg, the former born in Madison county, Illinois, in 1810, and the latter, born in England and came to this country with her parents when she was nine years of age. John Gragg lived in Illinois and there the wife and mother died in 1872. Mr. Gragg came later to Bates county, Missouri and died here in January, 1893, at the age of eighty-three years, at the home of James F. He was father of twelve children, nine of whom are living: Carrie, widow of Thomas Elliman, Butler, Illinois: George, Nokomis, Illinois; Frank, Lovell, Oklahoma; Charles, Crescent, Oklahoma; Ella, wife of Hiram Ellis, Guthrie, Oklahoma; Jane, wife of William DeWitt, Lovell, Okla- homa; Laura, wife of Edward Caffee, of Lovell, Oklahoma: Samuel Taylor, Crescent City, Oklahoma; and James, F., the subject of this review.
The early boyhood days of James F. Gragg were spent in a little log cabin 12 x 14 feet in dimensions, built of logs hewn from forest trees which originally covered his father's farm in Illinois. He grew up in the environment of these primitive surroundings and lived in Illi- nois until 1883, at which time he went to Clay county, Nebraska. He remained but one year in Nebraska and in the fall of that same year he came to Bates county, Missouri. For a period of thirteen years, he rented his present place of three hundred twenty acres and then pur- chased his farm. Upon this large tract, he carries on successful general farming operations and stock raising and has become one of the most substantial and enterprising farmers of Bates county.
Mr. Gragg was married in 1874 to Melissa Evans, who was also born in Macoupin county, Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Gragg have had eight children : Charles, deceased; Lawrence Clayton, Rockville, Bates county ; Clarence Edward, Kansas City, Missouri ; Benjamin, deceased ; Archie L., on the home place; Mae, wife of Cleave Chambers, Elkhart township : Bessie, at home : and Eva B., wife of Carl Laycox, Kansas City, Missouri. Mr. Gragg has always been a consistent Democrat and is a member of the Central Protective Association and the Farmers' Club which is com- posed of the progressive farmers of his neighborhood. IIe and Mrs. Gragg are members of the Baptist church.
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John Nickel, one of the few surviving old settlers of West Point township, Union veteran, is a native of Missouri, having been born in Dade county, March 8, 1839. For the past fifty years this aged citizen has resided on his farm in Bates county and has witnessed tremendous and far-reaching changes during that long period. He has reared a family of sons and daughters and has accumulated a sufficiency of this world's goods to give each child a farm and yet leave enough to sup- port himself comfortably in his declining years. His career has been an honorable and useful one which is well worth recording in this his- tory of Bates county. Mr. Nickel is a son of Samuel and Helen (Clark) Nickel, both natives of Pennsylvania.
Samuel Nickel was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania. and migrated to Ohio, where he was united in marriage with Helen Clark and then came further westward to become one of the vanguard of Missouri pioneers who settled in Dade county in 1836. From Dade county he removed to Cedar county, Missouri, in 1849. When the Kansas territory was thrown open to settlement in 1854 he was among the first to locate in Linn county in that year. He was an ardent free state man who was opposed to slavery and took an active part in the border war- fare, doing all within his power to make Kansas a free state. Samuel Nickel was a friend of the noted John Brown of Osawatomie and his son. John Nickel, knew Brown well. Samuel Nickel served two years in the Sixth Kansas Cavalry Regiment of the Union army during the Civil War and six of his sons enlisted and served in behalf of the Union, as follow: William, Benjamin, Jasper, Newton, John, and Robert.
Samuel Nickel had ten sons and a daughter, five of whom are yet living, as follow: John, subject of this review ; Newton, a Union veteran, Oklahoma ; George, residing in Texas ; J. J., living in Denver ; Mrs. Emma E. Eagan, residing in San Francisco, California. Samuel Nickel died at the age of seventy-one years and his wife departed this life at the age of fifty-six years.
John Nickel has an enviable and noteworthy war record. He enlisted on August 17, 1861, in Company "D," of the Sixth Kansas Cavalry and served until the close of the conflict. He was honorably discharged from the Union service in December, 1864. Mr. Nickel saw active and continuous service in Missouri, Arkansas, and Indian Terri- tory and Kansas. The principal battles in which his regiment took an active part were: Drywood. September 1, 1861 ; Sny Hills, 1862; Cow- skin Prairie, June, 1862; attack on Clarkson, July 4, 1862; Stan Watea
JOHN NICKEL.
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Mills, July, 1862; Coon Creek, August 24, 1862; Newtonia, September 30, to October 9, 1862; Old Fort Wayne, October 22, 1862; Cane Hill, November 29, 1862; Prairie Grove, December 7, 1862; attack on train, Fort Gibson, May 25, 1863; Honey Spring, July 17, 1863; Prairie De Ann, April 10 and 12, 1864; Poison Spring, April 18, 1864; Ouchita River, April 29, 1864; Roseville, April 3, 1864; Muzzard Prairie, July 27, 1864; Cabin Creek, September 19, 1864. At the battle of Cabin Creek, Oklahoma, he was wounded in the right shoulder and again suffered a wound in the right hand at the battle of Roseville, Arkansas.
After receiving his discharge, Mr. Nickel returned to his home in Linn county, Kansas, and lived there until 1868, when he crossed the line into Missouri and bought a tract of unfenced and unbroken land in West Point township. This tract was crossed by a stream which afforded a plentiful supply of timber growing along its banks. Mr. Nickel cut logs from the timber and erected a rude log cabin which served as his home in Missouri for a number of years. Game was plentiful in those days and the young soldier and his wife had few wants which were not easily supplied although they enjoyed but few luxuries such as the present generation have in their homes. In the course of time Mr. Nickel pros- pered and built himself a comfortable and imposing farm house. Life was not always easy but he prospered through the lean and good years and eventually became owner of six hundred forty acres of land which he has divided among his children. He deemed it best to give to each child a tract of land or its equivalent while he was yet living and as each attained his majority he received a fair start in the world.
Mr. Nickel was married on February 15, 1865, to Mary L. Francis, who was born in Illinois in 1845 and departed this life in 1895. She was a daughter of Thomas and Hannah Francis, of Illinois, who were pioneer settlers in Bates county, Missouri, coming here from Illinois in 1856. To John and Mary L. Nickel were born the following chil- dren : Elmer T., living in California; Hannah T., wife of E. J. Francis, residing in Oregon; Anna L., wife of William Speeks, now deceased; John L., living on the home place, married Miss Ollie Denny and has three children, Arthur. Floyd, and Paul Denny. Mr. Nickel has four- teen grandchildren in all.
Mr. Nickel has always been allied with the Republican party and has filled practically all local township offices. He is religiously asso- ciated with the Methodist Episcopal church and served as deacon of his church. Mr. Nickel is a member of the Grand Army Post at La Cygne,
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Kansas. Mr. Nickel loves to talk of the old times and especially grows reminiscent when he speaks of the war times and his strenuous career in the Civil War when his father and six stalwart and patriotic sons went forth to fight in behalf of the Union. He bequeathes a heritage of right living and right doing which will be an inspiration to the present and succeeding generations. His fifty years of endeavor in Bates county have been blessed with excellent results and he has done as much as any other pioneer settler in the upbuilding of this county.
Christian Schmidt .- When Christian Schmidt of Mound township came to Bates county thirty-six years ago, he was a poor man with neither money nor friends to assist him in getting a start in this county. By industry, close application to the work at hand, and the exercise of good financial ability he has become one of the substantial farmers of this county and one of the county's most highly respected citizens. Mr. Schmidt was born in Baden, Germany, in 1860, a son of Mr. and Mrs. Christian Schmidt, the former of whom never left his native land but died in the place of his birth in 1871. Mrs. Schmidt came to America, in 1880, with her two daughters, Catherine, now Mrs. William Mueller, and Sophia, now Mrs. William Jenney. Mrs. Schmidt died January 20, 1916. When Christian was twenty years of age, he immigrated to America in search of a permanent home and wealth. For the first two or three years, he worked as farm laborer in Illinois and then came westward to Bates county where it seemed to him that on account of land being cheaper in price he would stand a better chance of eventually becoming a land-owner. He first located in Deer Creek township and was engaged in farming in that township until 1898, when he located in Mound township and purchased eighty acres of land which formed the nucleus around which he has built up a splendid and rich farm of two hundred forty acres, adding tracts from time to time as he was able financially. He maintains a fine herd of Durham cattle and raises Poland China hogs. Most of the grain and fodder produced on the Schmidt farm is fed to livestock on the place, thereby insuring the con- tinued fertility of the soil.
Mr. Schmidt was first married to Elizabeth Jenney, who bore him one son, Christian, at home with his father. After the death of his first wife he was married in November, 1894, to Ida Hess, of Bates county, and to this marriage have been born five children: Lena, at home: Albert, who assisted his father on the home place : Herman, a student in Adrian
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High School; Walter and Christine, attending the public school. Mr. Schmidt is a Lutheran in his religious belief.
Mrs. Ida (Hess) Schmidt was born January 25, 1872, in LaSalle county, Illinois, daughter of Gotthard and Catherine Hess, natives of Baden, Germany, who came from Illinois to Bates county, in 1879, and located on a farm two miles west of Adrian. Both are deceased. Gotthard Hess died in 1896 and Catherine (Kern) Hess died in 1907. A sketch of Mr. and Mrs. Gotthard Hess appears elsewhere in this volume in con- nection with the review of Edward C. Hess.
Thaddeus S. Harper, prosperous and well-known farmer of Charlotte township, has lived nearly all his life in Bates county, having been brought to this county by his parents, when he was an infant in arms, fifty years ago. He has practically "grown up with the county" and he has become an important and valued member of the great body of citi- zens who are continuously pushing Bates county to the front and making it one of the truly great counties of Missouri. Mr. Harper was born on a farm in Johnson county, Missouri, near the city of Warrensburg, August 24, 1867, a son of Judge R. F. Harper, concerning whom an extended review is given elsewhere in this volume. Mr. Harper was reared and educated in Bates county, completing his education at the Butler Academy. He then taught school in this county, teaching for eight winters in the home district, No. 70, better known as Grandview school. During the summer season, he diligently farmed upon his father's place. He taught school for fourteen winters, in all, and was considered a very successful teacher. He eventually purchased the farm where he is now located and which he has greatly improved until it now contains one of the most handsome farm residences in western Missouri, fitted with every convenience, containing many modern improvements, among them being an electric light plant which furnishes electric light and power for the home and farm buildings. There are two hundred acres in Mr. Harper's home farm and he owns another place of one hundred fifty acres. His first investment in land was made in 1891 and he has continued to prosper by intelligently cultivating his acreage and by raising high-bred livestock, such as the Red Polled cat- tle.
Mr. Harper was married on April 7, 1897, to Miss Lillian Edna Hill, who was born in Missouri, a daughter of Pleasant Hill. who made a settlement in Missouri as early as 1867, coming to this state
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from Iowa. Six children have been born to T. S. and Lillian Edna Harper, as follow: Ralph E., a graduate of Butler High School: Carrie Margaret, who graduated from the Butler High School and is engaged in teaching at Mulberry; Rollin H., a student in Butler High School ; Dorothy D., Thaddeus S., Jr., and Theodore Roosevelt, or "Teddy," all of whom are at home.
The Republican party has always had the active and influential support of Mr. Harper and he served as chairman of the county central committee during the last campaign made by former President Roose- velt for the Presidency. He has ably filled the offices of township assessor and clerk and as delegate to the various conventions of his party held in the old days prior to the inauguration of the party pri- maries. Mr. Harper is a stockholder and director of the Farmers State Bank of Butler.
Monroe Burk, well-known farmer of Charlotte township, was born in Union county, Indiana, June 2, 1846, a son of Lemuel and Mary Isabel (Girard) Burk, the former, a native of Indiana and the latter, a native of Virginia. The family came to Missouri and settled in Lafay- ette county in 1866. In 1884, they moved to Johnson county, Mis- souri, and afterward located in Bates county. After a long and useful life, the father died at Lees Summit, Missouri, and the mother died near Rich Hill in this county. Lemuel and Mary Isabel Burk were parents of ten children, eight of whom are living: John D., Washing- ton: Angeline, wife of William Scudder, Kokomo, Indiana: Mrs. Sina Boland, Kansas City, Missouri; Monroe Burk, subject of this sketch ; Conaway, Lexington, Missouri; Elliot, Amoret, Missouri ; Mrs. Ida Culp. Kansas City ; and Mrs. Belle Atherton, Holden, Johnson county.
The boyhood days of Monroe Burk were spent in Indiana, where he attended the district schools. He accompanied his parents to Mis- souri in 1866 and in 1881 began his own career in Bates county, locating on a farm in Charlotte township, three-fourths of a mile east of his present homestead. Mr. Burk has accumulated a large farm of two hundred eighty acres of good land and is engaged extensively in rais- ing and feeding livestock for the markets. He handles Shorthorn cat- tle and Poland China hogs and each year adds to the number of splendid mules produced in this county.
November 11, 1874, Mr. Burk was united in marriage with Nannie Belle Evans of Platte county, Missouri, who has borne him nine chil-
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dren: Emmet, a farmer of Charlotte township; Rose, wife of Morton Jackson, Linn county, Kansas ; John, residing in Washington ; Lulu, wife of Herbert Steele, of Butler, Missouri : Lloyd, of College Station, Texas ; Ray, at home ; Edna, wife of Edlin Allison ; Perry, at home ; and Maud, at home. The mother of this fine family is a daughter of John Wesley and Jennie (Flagler) Evans, natives of Ohio, who located in Missouri in the early fifties. They later homesteaded in Kansas, remaining in that state for a few years and then lived for about ten years near Kicka- poo, Leavenworth county, Kansas, after which they went to Newton county, Missouri. Following a short residence in Newton county, they lived for two years in Jackson county and then removed to Lafayette county, later residing for a time in Kansas City. Mrs. Burk's father died in Lafayette and her mother died in Kansas City.
Mr. Burk has been a life-long Democrat, one who has served his political party faithfully and well and served as a township collector of Charlotte township one term. Mr. and Mrs. Burk are well and favor- ably known in their neighborhood and are among Bates county's most substantial citizens.
J. M. Hinson, a leading farmer and stockman of Charlotte township, was born in Rappahannock county, Virginia, November 22, 1848. He is a son of J. G. and Lucy ( Gigsby ) Hinson, both of whom were born and reared in old Virginia and were of Irish descent. They spent their lives in their native state and they were parents of five children, the subject of this review being the only member of this family who came west to Missouri. J. G. Hinson served with the Confederate army and was present with his command at the surrender of General Lee at Appomat- tox Court House, Virginia. For three years following the final sur- render, Mr. Hinson was not allowed to cast a vote at election time in his native state during the period of reconstruction. He followed farm- ing during his whole life and was also engaged in merchandising.
In 1872, J. M. Hinson left his native state and came westward in search of a home and fortune. He first located at Waverly. Fayette county, Missouri, and there engaged in farming until 1882, during which year he came to Bates county and after a year's residence in West Boone township, he located in Charlotte township and bought his pres- ent fine farm. He owns two hundred acres of good land located seven and one-half miles west of Butler and is extensively engaged in general farming and stock raising, his cattle being mostly of the Durham breed. Mr. Hinson purchased his farm in 1892.
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Mr. Hinson was married in 1877 to Esther Johnson, of Fayette county, Missouri, and to this union have been born three children, as follow: Lillie, wife of Harry Simpson, Elkhart township; Nova, at home; and Ewell, living in South Dakota. Mrs. Hinson died in 1884. Mr. Hinson is a Democrat, but is inclined to vote independently accord- ing to the dictates of his conscience and after weighing carefully in his mind the qualifications of the various candidates for political preferment at election time.
M. M. Carroll, well and favorably known farmer and stockman of Lone Oak township, living on a well-improved place located five and a half miles distant from the court house in Butler, was born in McDon- ough county, Illinois, a son of Daniel M. Carroll, who was a scion of the famous family of Carrolls, whose founder settled in Virginia in colonial days. The first of the family in America was Daniel Carroll, a native of Ireland, who settled in Virginia over two hundred years ago and whose descendants have been prominent in American affairs. Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, signer of the Declaration of Independence, was a direct descendant of this Daniel Carroll.
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