USA > Missouri > Bates County > History of Bates County, Missouri > Part 37
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J. B. Hamilton was the first-born of his father's family and was reared to manhood in Kansas. He resided in that state until 1881, when he made his permanent location in Homer township, Bates county, Missouri. He has built up a splendid and productive farm from raw prairie land and has accumulated a total of one hundred forty-five acres, which are well improved. Mr. Hamilton is accounted a good, industrious citizen of the type that has pushed Bates county into the forefront with the leading counties of Missouri. He was married in July, 1881, to Emma Gibson, who has borne him the following children: R. R., subject of this review; W. P., a successful farmer residing within three miles of Amoret ; O. V., clerk in Hall's Mercantile Store at Amoret; H. E., a farmer residing in Linn county, Kansas; Myrtle. H. B., and J. P., at home with their parents. The mother of these children was born January 7, 1860, and departed this life February 22, 1917. She was born in St. Clair county, Illinois, a daughter of Robert and Martha ( Hamilton) Gibson, who were natives of South Carolina and left their native state on account of a pronounced abhorrence of the institution of slavery, coming to Illinois during the earliest period of the settlement of that state. They came to Linn county, Kansas, in 1878. Robert Gibson settled on a farm in Linn county and resided there until his early death in 1882. Mrs. Gibson died in 1898. They were adherents of the Pres- byterian faith. Both the Hamilton and Gibson families have been prominent in the affairs of the Presbyterian church. William Hamilton was for many years a ruling elder of the church and became an elder
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of the church of the United Presbyterian faith in Linn county upon its formation in 1858. He was succeeded by his son, J. B. Hamilton, who served until of late years, when he was succeeded by his son, R. R. Hamilton. John Hamilton, father of William Hamilton, was an elder of the church when the family resided in Ohio.
R. R. Hamilton, subject of this review, was educated in the public schools of Amoret and Pleasanton, Kansas. Following his public-school and high-school education, he pursued a business course at Brown's Busi- ness College in Kansas City. After securing his business training he was employed in the Hall mercantile establishment in Amoret, from 1902 to 1906, inclusive. In the latter year he became cashier of the Bank of Amoret. He is now capably filling this position. Mr. Hamilton was married on October 15, 1908, to Miss Zola Davidson, a daughter of F. M. and C. S. Davidson, residents of Amoret. Mrs. Hamilton was born and reared in Bates county.
Mr. Hamilton, subject of this review, is a Republican in politics and takes a keen interest in the affairs of his party in Bates county but is not an office-seeker. He is a ruling elder of the United Presbyterian church of Amoret and succeeded to this position in July, 1917. He is a leader in civic and church affairs of his home town and is fast making a reputation for himself as a capable and efficient banking man and ranks high among the younger bankers of his native county.
Carl F. Hall, proprietor of the leading mercantile establishment of Amoret, is one of the successful business. men of Bates county. The Hall store was established in 1901 and the trade of this concern has been constantly growing during the past sixteen years. The store is housed in a large building and fully stocked with groceries, dry goods, queens- ware, hardware, feeds, etc. It has a distinctive appearance from the average general store found in small towns, and resembles a department store marked for the quantity and excellence of the goods on display. Mr. Hall handles country produce and is a shipper of eggs, butter, and poultry, which are brought to his store by the farmers of the vicinity.
Carl F. Hall was born July 29, 1878, at Trading Post. Kansas. He is a son of Austin W. and Caroline (Fisk) Hall, both of whom were natives of Vermont and descended from old New England families. Aus- tin W. Hall came West in 1856 as a "Free State" man and made a perma- nent settlement in Linn county, Kansas. During the border troubles and the Civil War period, he served in the State Militia. He home-
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steaded land in Linn county and operated a general store at Trading Post. He also placed in operation one of the first flouring and grist mills in that section of Kansas and became widely and favorably known as a successful and able business man whose influence in the affairs of his county was marked. He died in Linn county in 1900 at the age of sixty-nine years. Mrs. Hall died in 1887. Mr. and Mrs. Austin W. Hall were parents of the following children : Amos Hall, a merchant of Amsterdam, Missouri; John, an attorney at Pleasanton, Kansas; and Carl F., subject of this review.
Carl F. Hall was educated in the public schools of Linn county and began doing for himself at the age of twenty-one years. When a youth he was employed in his father's store and he also learned the miller's trade. When he became of age he, with his brother, operated the Hall store at Trading Post and also operated the mill which had been built by his father. In partnership with his brother, Amos, he became engaged in the milling business in Amoret, Bates county, in 1899, and this part- nership continued for two years. He then established the Hall mercan- tile store, which has been a remarkable success.
Mr. Hall was married in 1900 to Miss Nellie Hicks, of Pleasanton, a daughter of Harry and Sarah Hicks. Two children have been born of this marriage : Thelma, aged fifteen years, now a student in the Amoret High School; and Dorothy, aged six years. Mr. Hall is a Republican in politics and a good citizen as well as successful business man. A likable personality, honesty in his business dealings, progressive tendencies, ability and ambition to forge ahead have placed him in the front rank of Bates county's merchants.
Wilson C. Carpenter, former trustee of Homer township, now living retired at Amoret, has lived in Missouri for the past fifty years and during his residence in Bates county he has made a splendid record as an agri- culturist and a citizen who has had the best interests of his community and county at heart.
The family, of which Wilson C. Carpenter is a worthy scion, is a very old one in America and an interesting family genealogy has been com- piled, brief extracts from which indicate that the founder of the Carpen- ters in America was Henry Carpenter I, alias Heinrich Zimmerman, who was born in Switzerland, immigrated to America in 1706, and made a settlement in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. Emanuel Carpenter II, his son, born in 1702, commissioned a judge of the Court of Quarter Sessions of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, in 1759, was for a period
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of seventeen years a member of the Colonial Assembly, and he was a colleague and friend of Benjamin Franklin. He was a member of the Committee of Public Safety and a noted patriot during the War of the American Revolution. His influence was so strong that he carried all the Carpenters with him in the struggle for American Independence. The family furnished thirteen soldiers during the Revolutionary War. Emanuel Carpenter III, son of Emanuel II, was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and died on his farm near Lancaster, Ohio. He was a soldier of the Revolution and served in Captain John Roland's Regi- ment recruited in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. He was a judge of the Court of Lancaster County Sessions and a member of the State Assembly. He removed to Fairfield county, Ohio, in 1798 and named the city of Lan- caster in honor of his old home county. He was a member of the First Constitutional Assembly of Ohio and was the first presiding judge of the court of Quarter Sessions held in Fairfield county, Ohio. Emanuel Car- penter IV accompanied his parents to Ohio in 1798. In the year 1814 he was appointed land appraiser for Athens county, Ohio. In 1807 he was elected as the first sheriff of Fairfield county. He served as a member of the Ohio Legislature in 1813. He was owner of a tract of four hun- dred thirty-seven acres of land, upon which the city of Lancaster, Ohio, is now located. Ezra Carpenter, father of the subject of this review, was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, in 1803 and was left an orphan when still a child. In boyhood, he was apprenticed to the firm of Ring & Rice, woolen manufacturers, and learned the woolen trade. In 1824, he was married to Miss Sarah Reese. a daughter of General David Reese. She died in 1847 and in 1856 he married Martha Cochran, of Delaware county, Ohio. For several years, he was engaged in woolen manufacture in Fairfield and Delaware counties, Ohio, and shortly after his second marriage he migrated to lowa and made a settlement in Jones county, where he was extensively engaged in farming and woolen manufacture. In 1867 he removed to Newton county, Missouri, where he resided until his death, August 13, 1888. He was a strong anti- slavery man and a great student of history and politics. Ezra Car- penter was first allied with the Whigs and then with the Republicans. His wife, Martha (Cochran) Carpenter, mother of the subject of this review, was born in 1823 and died in 1880.
Wilson C. Carpenter was reared to young manhood on a farm located five miles southwest of Neosho, in Newton county, Missouri.
(26)
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and remained in that county until 1885, when he went to Indian territory and engaged in farming and cattle raising on a large scale. He resided in the territory until 1896, when he located permanently in Bates county, where he purchased one hundred sixty acres of land located in Homer township, two miles east of Amoret. This tract was indifferently improved at the time of Mr. Carpenter's taking possession and he at once set to work to erect better buildings and increase the productivity of the farm. He succeeded in his undertaking and in 1913 decided to rent his land and to remove to Amoret, where he has a comfortable residence and a fertile tract of five acres of land in the eastern part of the town.
The marriage of Wilson C. Carpenter and Miss Ida Shefler occurred in 1887. Mrs. Ida Carpenter was born in Wisconsin, a daughter of John and Tabitha (Hurtman) Sheffer, who were natives of Pennsyl- vania and Ohio, respectively. The Sheflers left Wisconsin in 1882 and located in Newton county, Missouri, where both spent the remainder of their lives, the father dying in 1884.
Mr. Carpenter has always been allied with the Republican party and he has always taken an active interest in his party's activities. . He is one of the leaders of the citizenry of Homer township and served as trustee of his township for four years, performing satisfactorily the duties of his office. Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter have many warm friends in Bates county.
Charles Coleman, farmer, stockman, real estate and insurance agent at Hume, Missouri, one of the younger generation of citizens of Bates county, a resident of this county for the past twelve years, has made a record in this section of Missouri second to none for an individual his age, a record superior to that made by many older men. He is a progressive, enterprising citizen who has already made his mark in the community. Mr. Coleman was born October 20, 1875, in Cass county, Illinois, a son of William and Nancy J. (McLin) Coleman.
William Coleman, his father, was born in Prussia, German Empire. He, as well as four brothers, bearing the family name of "Kuhlman," immigrated to America and all, excepting one, changed the name to the English translation, Coleman. William Coleman came to this country a poor immigrant, located in Cass county, and achieved a comfortable competence as a tiller of the soil. He began his career as a farm hand in Illinois in 1858, at the age of seventeen years. Not long afterward,
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he rented his employer's farm and continued as a valued and successful tenant of this place for a long period of forty years. As the years passed, Mr. Coleman invested his savings in Cass county land and accumulated a half-section of valuable farm land. He died in October, 1916, at the age of seventy-five years. He was born in 1841. Two brothers, Charles and Henry Coleman, served with the Union forces during the Civil War. William Coleman was father of five children: Edgar, Beardstown, Illi- nois; John and Arthur, both of Beardstown, Illinois; Charles, subject of this review ; and Mrs. Ella Davis, Bozeman, Montana. William Coleman left behind him a reputation as an honest, enterprising and reliable citi- zen, one whose word was considered as good as his bond and he be- queathed to his children the heritage of right living, inspiration of which has enabled them to forge ahead in the world.
Charles Coleman received his education in the public schools of Beardstown, Illinois, and at Business College at Jacksonville, Illinois. He first engaged in farming on his father's land and then began farming on his own account on rented land. Due to the excellent reputation as a business man and farmer which his father had established during his many years of residence in Cass county, the young man had no difficulty in getting financial backing for his farming operations and he was very suc- cessful. Land rose to a high price per acre in his native county and he believed that he could get better value for his savings by coming to Mis- souri. Accordingly, he came to Bates county in 1906 and invested his capital in seven hundred thirty-six acres of land, which he converted into an extensive stock farm, known as "Oak Lawn." A considerable portion of his land is located in the southeast part of Howard township and a part is in Vernon county. Mr. Coleman has dealt largely in land since coming to Missouri and, in the fall of 1913, he located in Hume. In October of 1916, he engaged in the insurance and real estate business at Hume. Mr. Coleman bought his first farm in Cass county, Illinois, at a time when he had no capital whatever, but he made good, sold out at a great increase over and above the original purchase price, and invested the proceeds in land which was held much cheaper in this county. He has never regretted the change and has identified himself heart and soul with affairs in Bates county during his residence here.
Mr. Coleman was married in 1897 to Miss Ada T. Lee, of Cass county, Illinois, a daughter of Lycurgus Lee. Her mother, who was a Miss Reams prior to her marriage, is deceased, and her father lives in
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Illinois. Two children have been born to this marriage : Verna May, aged eighteen years, a student in the Hume High School; and Charles Lee, aged ten years.
The Republican party has always had the allegiance of Mr. Coleman. Mr. Coleman has served two terms as trustee of Howard township, hav- ing been twice elected on the Republican ticket in a strong Democratic township, evidence of his popularity. He and Mrs. Coleman are mem- bers of the Methodist Episcopal church. He is fraternally affiliated with the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and the Modern Woodmen of America. He is president of the Consolidated School Board of the Hume Consolidated District and was one of the leaders in the advanced move- ment which succeeded in establishing a centralized school system at Hume, and provided for the transportation of the school pupils within a radius of several miles to a graded school in the town. The effects of this splendid and progressive enterprise are already noticeable in the more rapid advance in the education and training of the children of school age. A new and modern school building will be erected in Hume very soon and the entire community will reap the benefits in the years to come. as a result of this onward movement in the cause of education.
James Pendleton Thomas, better known probably as J. P. Thomas, one of the oldest of the pioneer settlers of Bates county, now living in peaceful retirement among his children in New Home township, has a record for achievement of which any man of his age may well be proud. Mr. Thomas has reared one of the best families in Bates county and accumulated during his life time a fortune in lands and money, starting from the foot of the ladder without hardly a dollar to his name when he began his career. Probably the best thing which can be said of this patriarch is the fact that he did not require his children to wait until his death in order to share in his accumulations, but he wisely chose to give each child a tract of land upon which to begin his own career. That he did wisely is evident as every son and daughter has a good home, is well provided for, and nearly all of them live in the vicinity of the old home where the aged father can see them frequently and have the comfort of their companionship during his declining years. If every father would do as he has done with his children there would be fewer sons to leave the home community and seek in other lands for the fabled "pot of honey" which is always said to be a few hundred miles away.
James P. Thomas was born October 10, 1836, in Franklin county, Kentucky, the son of Richard Henry (born in 1800, died in 1842) and
JAMES PENDLETON THOMAS.
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Nancy (Ellison) Thomas (born in 1812, died in 1887), both of whom were natives of Kentucky. Richard Thomas was a son of James Thomas of Virginia, a pioneer settler of Kentucky. Nancy (Ellison) Thomas was a daughter of Col. Jacob Ellison, a native of Kentucky who was a colonel of volunteers in the War of 1812 and commanded a regiment of Kentucky and Tennessee sharpshooters under Gen. Andrew Jackson at the famous battle of New Orleans, wherein the British invaders under Generals Packenham and Gibbs were defeated with great loss of life. Richard Henry Thomas was killed by a falling tree in 1842. He was the father of ten children, six of whom grew to maturity : Sarah, Betsy, and Martha, deceased ; James Pendleton, subject of this review ; Richard Hiter, Sheldon, Missouri; Jacob E., Rich Hill, Missouri. In the autumn of 1854, Mrs. Nancy Thomas and her family came to Missouri from the old home in Kentucky and lived for two years in Johnson county. In 1856, Mr. Thomas came to Bates county and entered a tract of gov- ernment land in New Home township. He erected a log house thereon and was soon joined by his mother and two brothers who came down from Johnson county. Their nearest neighbor was O. H. P. Miller. The new settlers got along nicely until the "jay-hawkers" began making raids from Kansas into Bates county during the latter part of 1861. In January, 1862, a party of marauders visited the Thomas home, drove the occupants from the house, looted it and burned it to the ground. After a week's stay with friends the family moved to Henry county, Missouri, and from there went to Pettis county and planted crops for the ensuing season. The Federal Militia came there and James P. left his mother in Pettis county and returned to Bates county. He then joined General Cockrell's company and in the spring of 1862 became a member of Gen. J. O. Shelby's command. He served with the Confeder- ate forces until the surrender of his command at Shreveport, Louisiana, at the close of the war. His first battle was at Fort Smith, Arkansas ; then Dartnell, below Fort Smith on the Arkansas river. He took part in General Shelby's raid in Arkansas and Missouri as far as the vicinity of Springfield, Missouri, where the projected attack on Springfield was abandoned. Shelby's army turned back here and the next raid was made as far as Cape Girardeau, where a stiff fight took place, and Shelby's command retreated to the St. Francis river and built a breastwork, and withstood the attacks of the Unionists. They again retreated southward and were engaged in many skirmishes en route, fighting a battle in Saline county, Missouri, while on their way. They again returned to
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Arkansas and fought a battle at Du Ball's Bluff on Grand Prairie. Later they captured a Union gunboat on White river in the spring of 1864. During the summer of 1864 his command operated along the Arkansas river and on one occasion were shelled by Union gunboats but suc- ceeded in driving them off from the attack. Going up the river, the Unionists landed and came down the river to attack the Confederates. Several skirmishes took place, and Mr. Thomas says "We killed a good many niggers." His command started with General Price upon his great raid through Missouri to Kansas City, but Mr. Thomas was granted furlough to visit home folks in Pettis county in the fall. He with about eighty of his comrades with their captain started to White river, Arkansas, to rejoin Shelby's army but were attacked by. the Federals east of Spring- field, and for many miles they had a running fight of it. They rejoined Shelby on the Arkansas river and stayed there during the winter of 1864 and 1865. At one time when their army was chasing after General Steele, Mr. Thomas had his horse shot from under him. After the surrender at Shreveport he boarded a steamer named "Old Kentucky," which sank on Red river fourteen miles below Shreveport and many were drowned. Mr. Thomas climbed on top of the wheel house and in this manner saved his life. After the war he returned home to Pettis county and remained there until the fall of 1867, when he came to Bates county and rebuilt the home and commenced to mend the family for- tunes. How well Mr. Thomas succeeded in his farming and stock rais- ing enterprises is evidenced by the fact that he accumulated a total of twelve hundred acres of land. Of this large acreage he has given each of his children one hundred twenty acres and now owns a tract of one hundred fifty-five acres.
In November of 1867, J. P. Thomas and Mary Anne West were united in marriage. This marriage was blessed with the following chil- dren: Mrs. Vida Swarens, New Home township; Robert died in infancy ; Edward Leslie, New Home township ; Mrs. Elizabeth Kate Swarens, New Home township; Mark Henry, Walnut township; Mrs. Martha Jane Clouse, Walnut township; Eveline died in infancy ; James Arthur, living on the old home place of the family in New Home township.
The mother of the foregoing children was born in 1852 and departed this life in 1889. She was a daughter of Mark and Minerva (McHenry) West, natives of Tennessee, who settled in Bates county during the early thirties. Minerva (McHenry) West was a daughter of Capt. John
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McHenry, who was the first representative from Bates county, and died at Jefferson City while serving in the Assembly.
In politics, Mr. Thomas has always been a Democrat. He is a member of the Baptist church, having been associated with the first Baptist church organized in this section of the county and also assisted in the building of the Foster Baptist church. And now, in the eventide of life, this patriarch lives in peaceful retirement surrounded by the children whom he reared to upright manhood and womanhood and who have taken their places as useful members of society. James P. Thomas is one of the grand old men of Bates county who has lived to see this county develop into one of the richest and best in the great state of Missouri. It can be said truthfully of him that when he lays down the burdens which his sons and daughters have taken up, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." Although well past four score years of age, Mr. Thomas or "Uncle Jimmy," as he is known to all the country side, is well preserved and hale and hearty, able yet to take a keen inter- est in affairs from day to day, and no doubt good for many more peaceful years of living.
James Arthur Thomas, proprietor of a splendid farm of one hun- dred fifty-seven acres in New Home township, known as the "Lone Elm Farm," was born September 10, 1887 on the farm which he now owns. He is a son of James P. Thomas, concerning whom an extended biography is given in this volume. Mr. Thomas was educated in the Virginia district school and attended the Foster high school. His farm is well improved with a handsome, comfortable residence, a substantial barn, and silo, with other buildings in a good state of repair. Mr. Thomas is a breeder of O. I. C. hogs all of which are registered stock to the number of forty head on the place. He is specializing as a breeder of thoroughbred stock of this famous variety and is making a success of the venture. Mrs. Thomas specializes in Barred Rock poul- try and has about two hundred thirty head of fine chickens at this writing, January, 1918.
On July 31, 1906, James Arthur Thomas and Rose Cobb were united in marriage. Mrs. Rose (Cobb) Thomas was born July 30, 1889, in New Home township, a daughter of S. E. and Mary Jane (Hopkins) Cobb. the former of whom was a native of Harrison county, and the latter a native of Morgan county, Missouri. They came to Bates county in 1870 and settled in New Home township, where the father, S. E. Cobb died
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