USA > Missouri > Bates County > History of Bates County, Missouri > Part 35
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 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97
Daniel M. Carroll, father of M. M. Carroll, was born near Union- town, Pennsylvania, a son of Daniel Carroll, a native of the Keystone state, who, with his brother, William Carroll, became pioneer settlers in the state of Illinois. Three of his sons, Daniel M., John, and James R., served as members of the Seventy-eighth Illinois Infantry during the Civil War. John Carroll died in Libby Prison. James R. Carroll served for two years and was discharged on account of physical disa- bility. Daniel M. Carroll was a member of Company I, Seventy-eighth Illinois Infantry and served for three years and ten months in the Union service. He was wounded during the assault on Missionary Ridge, but served until the close of the war. After the close of his war service, he farmed in McDonough county, Illinois until March, 1875, when he came to Bates county and located in Lone Oak township, building up a fine farm which is now occupied by his son, William. He died in 1898 at the age of sixty-three years. While he espoused the principles of the Democratic party, he never sought political preferment. In his young manhood he was married to Anna Marie Carnahan, who bore him the following children: M. A., of Summit township; S. W .. Lone Oak township; John R., deceased; Sephrenous S., deceased; Dollie, wife of Joseph Ghere, Lone Oak township; and Hattie, wife of Elijah Requa,
379
HISTORY OF BATES COUNTY
Lone Oak township. The mother of these children was born in Ohio, a daughter of James Harvey Carnahan, a native of Ohio, of Scotch descent. Mr. Carnahan located in Illinois in 1852 and spent the remain- der of his life in McDonough county. The mother of Mrs. Carroll was Cynthia Murphy before her marriage and she was of German descent. Mrs. Anna Marie Carroll died in 1910.
M. M. Carroll received practically all of his schooling in Illinois and was sixteen years of age when his parents came to Bates county. He attended school for some time after coming here and he began to make his own way in the world when he was twenty-four years of age. When he had accumulated some capital he purchased one hundred forty acres of farm land, upon which he carries on general farming and stock rais- ing, paying particular attention to the raising of Shorthorn cattle, a breed which he believes is the best for beef production.
Mr. Carroll was married November 5, 1883, to Mary E. Deems, who was born and reared in Bates county, a daughter of John Deems, who came to this county in an early day from his native state of Pennsyl- vania. Mrs. Mary E. Carroll died in 1900, leaving the following children : Grover J., a farmer of Summit township; Katie, deceased; Ross, de- ceased; Harvey and Percy, twins, the former of whom is dead and the latter is now in the Oklahoma oil fields; and Fred M., Lone Oak town- ship. Later, Mr. Carroll was married to Miss Emma I. Eckles, a native of Hancock county, Illinois, daughter of James Eckles, who died after a residence of some years in Bates county. Three children have been born of this marriage: Harold, at home; Angeline, deceased ; one child died in infancy.
Mr. Carroll is independent in politics. He has served as town- ship clerk and assessor, three terms, and has filled the office of justice of the peace two terms. He also served one term as township trus- tee. He was a candidate for county judge in the southern district in 1896 on the People's Party ticket, and received one hundred fifty-five votes, while his two opponents received about fifty votes each in his township. Every office which he has held has practically come to him unsought as he has never asked a voter to support him during a cam- paign. Mr. Carroll is a member of the Presbyterian church and is a highly respected and leading citizen of Bates county. At present he is serving as deputy food administrator of Bates county. He served as draft registrar for Lone Oak township in June, 1917.
380
HISTORY OF BATES COUNTY
J. T. Hensley, one of the oldest resident farmers of Homer town- ship has the distinction of being the oldest livestock buyer in Bates county. For the past forty-seven years, Mr. Hensley has been engaged in the buying and shipping of livestock and has built up a reputation for square and honest dealing with his scores of patrons which has never been equalled in Bates county or this section of Missouri. He is one of the substantial pioneer farmers of this county who enjoys the respect and esteem of a large circle of friends and acquaintances. Probably no man of his age is better or more favorably known in this section of Missouri than this sturdy farmer and stockman.
Mr. Hensley was born in Kentucky, March 4, 1846, and is a son of James Harvey and Sadie (Anderson ) Hensley, both of whom were natives of old Kentucky. James Hensley was born in 1805 and died in 1855. His wife departed this life in 1853. James Harvey Hensley was a son of Elijah Hensley, a native of England. J. T. Hensley's father was shot when the son was but nine years of age, and two years prior to this, his mother died-leaving four children: William Colby, who farmed in part- nership with the subject of this review in Bates county until his death ; J. T., subject of this sketch; Shelby, deceased; Henry, deceased. After the loss of his parents, J. T. Hensley was reared by a Mr. Stevens until he attained the age of eighteen years. For two years following he worked as farm hand and then engaged in farming on his own account. In the year 1865. Mr. Hensley went to Illinois and worked by the month for two years, following which he farmed on his own account until 1869, at which time he migrated to Missouri and settled in Bates county. Mr. Hensley purchased his present home farm in 1870 and for a number of years he farmed with his brother, William Colby Hensley, until the latter's death. Mr. Hensley accumulated several farms and had a con- siderable acreage of land in Bates county. Of late years he has disposed of the greater portion of his land holdings as the land rose in value and now has but the home place of one hundred twenty acres. For the past forty-seven years, he has been engaged in the buying and shipping of livestock and has rarely or never missed a week in being in Amoret ready to conduct his business. Mr. Hensley has shipped hundreds and probably thousands of carloads of cattle to the city mar- kets and is the oldest stock buyer in Bates county. It is conceded that he is one of the best judges of livestock in the state of Missouri and he is widely known over this section of Missouri and the border territory of Kansas.
J. T. HENSLEY.
381
HISTORY OF BATES COUNTY
Mr. Hensley was married in 1873 to Miss Carrie Orear, who died April 18. 1880, leaving two children: Ella May, widow of T. A. Wright who died February 15. 1917, and is living at Commerce, Oklahoma; Carrie, a widow, married in 1906 to F. M. Skaggs, who died May 13, 1916. and she has one child, Ella Louise. eight years old. Mr. Hensley's second marriage took place February 16. 1882. with Mamie Boone Orear, a sister of his first wife. born in Kentucky, a daughter of William D. and Selina Orear. natives of Kentucky who migrated to Missouri in 1870. Mrs. Selina Orear makes her home with Mr. and Mrs. Hensley. Three children were born to this second marriage: William H., mem- ber of the Live Stock Exchange and hog salesman for Zook & Zook Live Stock Commission Company, and at the time he began was the youngest hog salesman on the exchange, a resident of Kansas City, Missouri : Albert, Farmington. Missouri: Mamie Merle, wife of W. C. Dillard. Farmington, Missouri. Mamie Boone ( Orear) Hensley was born June 11. 1866, in Kentucky, daughter of William D. and Selina (Gibson) Orear. natives of Kentucky. The Orears are of French ori- gin. the progenitor of whom came from France with Lafayette and settled in Virginia after the Revolution. The Gibson family were Vir- ginia stock. Selina (Gibson) Orear was a daughter of James, a son of Samuel Gibson, who came from Norfolk. Virginia. and a Kentucky pioneer. William D. Orear was born in 1827, and died April 16. 1899. Selina Orear was born in 1836 and is still living. Carrie Hensley, de- ceased: Albert. Kansas City. a carpenter : John Davis. Hot Springs. Arkansas. a printer: Mrs. Mamie Boone Hensley: and Mrs. Effie Mitchell. Kansas City. Missouri, were born to William D. and Selina Orear.
Politically. Mr. Hensley has always been allied with the Republican party but aside from assisting his friends during a political campaign and voting his convictions he takes but little interest in political matters. He is a member of the Christian church and is fraternally affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. having become a member of the Amoret lodge in 1907. History can give no higher nor better praise of J. T. Hensley than that his career in Bates county has been a long and honorable one and that he has conducted his business in such an honest and upright manner that he enjoys the respect. confi- dence and esteem of scores and hundreds of people with whom he has done business during a long period of nearly half a century in Bates county. Despite his more than three score years and ten, he is active and
382
HISTORY OF BATES COUNTY
strong, both mentally and physically, and ranks as one of the county's grand old men.
Mr. Hensley began shipping livestock in 1870, driving stock to Mulberry and thence fifteen miles to La Cygne, Kansas, the nearest shipping point. Later, he drove stock to Old West Line, twenty-five miles distant, for shipment to St. Louis. When the railroad came to Butler in 1880 he drove stock to that city for shipment. In 1894 the Kansas City & Southern was built through Amoret and he has since shipped from this point. In the early days he and his brother drove cattle all the way to Kansas City.
Adelbert Requa .- The Requa family is one of the oldest of the pio- neer families of western Missouri and the name of Requa is inseparably connected with the foundation of the settlement and development of Bates county and this section of Missouri. Members of this old family were founders of Harmony Mission established in the southern part of Bates county as early as 1821 and 1822. Considerable space is devoted to the history of Harmony Mission elsewhere in the historical section of this volume, to which the reader is referred. The Requa family is of French Huguenot origin, the ancestors of the family having fled from France before the American Revolution in order to escape religious persecu- tion, on the part of the Roman church. The progenitors of the family in America settled in New York state, where they became prominently identified with affairs in that state during the colonial epoch of Ameri- can history. They were true patriots and espoused the cause of American Independence during the Revolutionary period of our coun- try's history. No less than twelve members of this old family bore arms and fought for the liberties of their country in the Revolutionary War. Four members of the family were commissioned officers in the Army of Independence. Dr. William Requa, a scholarly and talented man, was one of the founders of Harmony Mission. George Requa. paternal grandfather of "Del" Requa, whose name heads this review, was also a well-educated and devout man, one who was interested in Christian- izing the Indians of the West. In 1826, he went to Fort Gibson, Arkan- sas, and was connected with the Union Indian Mission at that point. In 1827, he came to what is now Bates county, and was connected with the Harmony Indian Mission until its abandonment in the early thirties. The Requas were all people of learning and intelligence and had a wide ac- quaintance among the men of letters in their day. Washington Irving, the famous novelist, during his travels, paid a visit to the Requa at Har-
383
HISTORY OF BATES COUNTY
mony Mission, and secured material for some of his stories while here. While a guest of George Requa, he took the father of "Del" Requa on his lap, Austin Requa then but an infant, and played with him.
Austin Requa, father of Adelbert, Misses Eulia and Clara Requa residing in Lone Oak township, was born at Fort Gibson, Arkansas, March 1, 1832, a son of George Requa, who first came to Bates county and located at old Harmony Mission in 1827 and made a permanent set- tlement in this county in 1832. The wife of George Requa was Mary Harmony Austin, whom he married in 1827 at Harmony Mission. The parents of Mary Harmony Austin were missionaries who had left their native state of Vermont to engage in mission work among the Indians of the West, teaching among the Osage Indians for a number of years. She was a cousin of Rev. R. R. Stoors, of Brooklyn, New York. When the Mission disbanded in 1832, George Requa entered government land near what was formerly known as Stumptown, north of Lone Oak. He was postmaster for some years, the postoffice being located in the Requa residence. After his death, his widow still kept the postoffice. George and Mary Harmony Requa were parents of eight children : Mary Elizabeth, wife of Levi Pixley, who was a son of Rev. Benton Pixley, of Harmony Mission; Austin; William; James; George; Lucy, wife of David Redfield, a relative of A. Redfield, of Harmony Mission : Martha ; Mattie, wife of Col. A. W. Robb, who enlisted in the Union army for service during the Civil War as a private and became a colonel. A daughter of Col. Robb was the first white child born in Muskogee, Okla- homa. Cyrus Requa was the youngest child of George Requa.
Austin Requa was reared a farmer in Bates county and was inured to the hardships of frontier life. When he was an infant in arms, his parents made the journey from Fort Gibson to Harmony Mission. A crossing of the Osage river was necessary. The river was filled with . ice. An Indian brought the family across the stream in a canoe. made of buffalo skin, towing by means of thong held in his teeth and swimming through the icy waters. In 1856, Austin Requa married Hannah A. But- ler and also entered government land in Pleasant Gap township. Three of his brothers served in the Union army during the Civil War. The pine lumber used in the construction of the Requa home was hauled from Pleasant Hill, a distance of sixty miles. During the Civil War, Mr. Requa resided in Kansas for a portion of the time, and also saw service under the Union flag in the Kansas Home Guards. When the Lone Oak Presbyterian church was organized in 1868 he was made elder, an office
384
HISTORY OF BATES COUNTY
which he held until his death, June 6, 1910. His wife died December 15, 1889. There were five children in the family of Austin and Hannah A. Requa, namely: Clara, who resides with her brother and her sister in Lone Oak township: George B., of near Reno, Nevada; Eulia, living with "Del" and Clara Requa: Elijah Stoors, Lone Oak township: and Adelbert or "Del" Requa. The land upon which the old Requa home place was built was entered by Austin Requa from the United States government and the land patent was signed by President Franklin Pierce.
Adelbert Requa, who is farming one hundred sixty acres of land in Lone Oak township, is also cultivating forty acres owned by his sister. He was born in Pleasant Gap township, August 2, 1872. He was educated in the schools of Bates county and has always followed the pursuits of a farmer and a stockman. He raises thoroughbred Here- ford cattle and is a capable farmer whose place is a model of neatness and indicates close and thorough cultivation. The Requa home place is one of the most attractive places in Bates county. The land is well watered and was formerly covered with timber which grew in the deep rich soil, which has yielded bountiful crops for many years. Mr. Requa is a genial, whole-souled fellow. a Democrat in politics, and is prominent in political circles in his native county. He has served as assessor of Pleasant Gap township and as tax collector of Lone Oak township. Mr. Requa is accounted one of the ablest and most substantial of Bates county's citizens and the members of this famous old family are held in high esteem throughout the county. No name in Bates county his- torical annals has greater significance or figures more prominently than Requa. It is an honored one and is and will be forever connected with the cradling of civilization in western Missouri.
G. W. Daniel, a prominent farmer and stockman of Lone Oak town- ship, has been identified with Bates county practically all his life. Mr. Daniel is a native of Missouri. He was born in Osage county, May 24, 1852, a son of John and Martha (Cruse) Daniel. The father was a native of Virginia, and the mother of Kentucky. . They settled .in Osage county, Missouri, at an early date, coming there with their respec- tive parents. They were married in Osage county, and in 1855, came to Bates county, settling in Lone Oak township.
The Daniel family resided in this township until Order No. 11 went into effect, when they removed to Pettis county. As a boy, G. W. Daniel has a distinct recollection of many of the stirring events that
385
HISTORY OF BATES COUNTY
took place in this section during the days of the border war, both before the Civil War and after it was officially closed. He saw much of the activity of the "bushwhackers," "jayhawkers," and "redlegs" during those days. Raiding parties from both sides frequently stopped at his father's place and obtained food. It was not an uncommon thing to hear shoot- ing and fighting going on in the vicinity almost any night. The Kansas raiders frequently drove off cattle, burned houses, and destroyed fences and other property.
Mr. Daniel's farm is located on a slight elevation three and one- fourth miles south of Butler. During the Civil War times, this place was known as "Spy Mound." It got its name from the fact that "bush- whacker" pickets were frequently stationed here to watch for the approach of Kansas raiders in the vicinity of Butler. Butler could be distinctly seen from this point before the timber between here and Butler had grown to its present proportions.
In the early part of the war, Butler was a Federal military post and Mr. Daniel recalls seeing soldiers there. He also remembers the Battle of Brushy Mound, where so many negroes, who had come from Kansas to subdue the South, were killed. Mr. Daniel says after the first clash in that engagement some of the negroes, who could outrun bullets, escaped back into Kansas.
The Daniel family returned to their home in Lone Oak township in the spring of 1866 and proceeded to rebuild their home and improve the farm. Political trouble continued in the neighborhood for some time afterward. Elisha Daniel, an uncle of G. W., was murdered in his home in that vicinity after the war, and the shooting at Willowbranch church took place, in which Lindsey, Wines, and Hart were shot. In those days, people went to church heavily armed, expecting trouble, and, frequently, were not disappointed.
John Daniel, the father of G. W., followed farming in Lone Oak township until he retired. He died in 1904, his wife having passed away in 1898.
G. W. Daniel was one of a family of ten children, five of whom are living, as follow: Leander, Cedar county, Missouri; G. W., the subject of this sketch; Isaac, Lone Oak township, Bates county; Sarah, married John Silvers, Winfield, Kansas; and Louisa, married Tom Taylor, Mos- cow, Idaho. Mr. Daniel received his education in the public schools, such as they were, in the pioneer days of Bates county. He attended (25)
386
HISTORY OF BATES COUNTY
school in an old log school house, which was located near his home in Lone Oak township. He began life as a farmer and has successfully been engaged in agricultural pursuits up to the present time. He has a fine farm of one hundred twenty acres, located three and one-fourth miles south of Butler. He is quite extensively engaged in raising cattle, as well as general farming, and is recognized as one of the progressive agriculturists of Bates county.
Mr. Daniel was united in marriage in 1876, with Miss Harriet Mars- teller. a native of LaPorte, Indiana, a daughter of Randolph and Mary (Wright) Marsteller, the former, a native of Virginia and the latter, of Ohio. Mrs. Daniel came to Bates county, Missouri, in 1857. They settled in Mount Pleasant township, where the parents spent the remain- der of their lives. The father died in 1882, and the mother departed this life in 1914. During the Civil War, when Order No. 11 was issued, the Marsteller family went to Pettis county, where they remained until the close of the war.
To Mr. and Mrs. Daniel have been born three children: Myrtie, married L. G. Thomas, Lone Oak township; George R., Twin Falls, Idaho; and Mae, married Robert Thomas, Kimberly, Idaho.
Mr. Daniel is a Democrat. Since boyhood, he has been identified with that party. He has always taken an active interest in the upbuild- ing and betterment of public schools and served on the local school board for twenty years. He is a member of the Church of Christ.
Many changes have taken place in Bates county since Mr. Daniel came here, sixty-three years ago. When he was a boy, herds of deer were not an uncommon sight, and his father frequently killed deer and wild turkeys. At first, all the lumber used by the pioneers was hauled from Pleasant Hill.
Owen M. Burkhart, of Pleasant Gap township, is a native son of Missouri. He was born in Cass county, near Harrisonville, February 15, 1851, a son of Michael and Frances (Walters) Burkhart, natives of Indiana. The Burkharts were formerly from Pennsylvania, but migrated to Indiana at an early day.
The parents of O. M. Burkhart were married in Indiana and came to Missouri, probably about 1850 or a little before that date. Upon com- ing to this state, they located in Newton county and, shortly afterward, went to Cass county. Here they remained until 1852, when they came to Bates county and settled in Pleasant Gap township. The father bought land on Double Branches creek, about two and one-half miles
387
HISTORY OF BATES COUNTY
west of where O. M. Burkhart now lives. Later, he entered consider- able government land in that vicinity.
When the Civil War broke out, when it not only became unsafe but against military law to live in Bates county, the Burkhart family moved out and, during that period, they lived in Henry and Benton counties. At the close of the war, they returned to Pleasant Gap town- ship, where the parents spent the remainder of their lives. Their remains now rest in Double Branches cemetery.
O. M. Burkhart was one of a family of seven children, as follow: Robert Emanuel, deceased; Margaret, married William Allen, Weather- field, Oklahoma; William L., Waynoka, Oklahoma; John, Monett, Mis- souri; Owen M., the subject of this sketch; Frances, married John Bent- ley and she is now deceased; and James, deceased.
The first recollection that O. M. Burkhart has is of Pleasant Gap township and Bates county as he was only one year old when he was brought to this county by his parents. He grew to manhood here and attended school in an old log school house that was located on Double Branches creek, about two miles north of the Burkhart home. Mr. Burk- hart well remembers this old pioneer school house with its stone fire- place and stone chimney. The old building served its purpose and passed on, and now lives only in the memory of those whose early lives were interwoven with the old institution.
Mr. Burkhart began life for himself at the age of twenty-two, engag- ing in farming and stock raising. Thirty-six years ago he bought the place where he now lives. When he bought his place, it was mostly timbered land. He cleared it himself, which represents a great deal of labor, involving many years of everlastingly "keeping at it." But he is rewarded at last by being the owner of one of the most valuable farms of Bates county. He owns two hundred eighteen and one-half acres and for years successfully carried on general farming and stock raising, but for the past few years he has rented out most of his land, and is trying to take life a little easier. He has two good reasons for this: First, he can afford to. Second, he has done about one man's share of hard work.
Mr. Burkhart was married March 21, 1878, to Miss Dora L. Hall, a native of Marshalltown, Iowa, a daughter of Ansel Hall. Mrs. Burk- hart came to Bates county with her parents when she was ten years old. For further history of the Hall family see sketch of E. R. Hall, a brother of Mrs. Burkhart.
388
HISTORY OF BATES COUNTY
To Mr. and Mrs. Burkhart have been born the following children: Arthur C., Pleasant Gap township; Cardia May, married Burt Hark- rader, Pleasant Gap township; and Vira Vivian, married David W. H. Smith, Pleasant Gap township. Mr. and Mrs. Burkhart are members of the Christian church. Mr. Burkhart is a Democrat. He has held the office of justice of the peace two terms, and is well and favorably known in Bates county.
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.