USA > Missouri > Bates County > History of Bates County, Missouri > Part 45
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
476
HISTORY OF BATES COUNTY
improved land in New Home township and was highly regarded by all who knew them.
November 3, 1878, James L. Strien and Sarah J. Berry were united in marriage. To this union have been born the following children: Lydia Frances, born October 23, 1880, at home with her widowed mother ; Annie Catherine, born October 21, 1882; and James Walter, born Octo- ber 9, 1884, is operating the home farm.
Mrs. Sarah J. (Berry) Strien was born August 19, 1851, in Pettis county, a daughter of John and Polly Ann (Adams) Berry. Her father was born in Cooper county, Missouri, in 1823 and died in 1898. Her mother was born in Kentucky in 1829 and died on May 14, 1892. John Berry was the son of Tyree H. Berry, who came to Missouri from the South and lived at old Fort Boone as early as 1870. When John Berry was reared to young manhood, he located in Pettis county and there married. He resided there until 1854 and then made a settlement in Bates county, settling near the site of Nyhart. During the Civil War, both the Strien and Berry families returned to Pettis county, where they remained until the end of the war.
No honor is too great to bestow upon the memory of hardy pio- neers like James L. Strien, his father and John Berry, for the great work accomplished in assisting to open up this country for settlement and to prove to others that Bates county soil was capable of sustaining a considerable population. Since the old days, when these men plied their axes in the woods and broke the first furrows in the virgin soil, a wonderful transformation has taken place-the forests, prairies which stretched in unbroken lines as far as the eye could reach, with but here and there the smoke from a settler's lonely cabin or from the campfires of the nomadic Indians rising in the clear air, have given way to the march of civilization. Now a prosperous and contented community of intelligent people reside in amity where once was such a wilderness.
Jason Sherl Woodfin .- The late Jason Sherl or J. S. Woodfin, who was a prominent citizen of Walnut township, was a son of one of the first pioneer settlers of Bates county. He was born March 8, 1833 in North Carolina, a son of John Woodfin, who emigrated from North Carolina in 1837 and made a settlement in Johnson county, Missouri. He resided there for four years and in 1841 made a permanent settle- ment in Walnut township, Bates county. He made a settlement on a tract located one and a half miles north of the Woodfin place in Walnut township and built up one of the finest country estates in this section of Missouri. John Woodfin prospered and accumulated a total of eleven
-
-
MRS. PRUDENCE E. WOODFIN.
JASON SHERL WOODFIN.
477
HISTORY OF BATES COUNTY
hundred acres of land. During the winter of 1861, John Woodfin, on account of threats having been made against his life by the anti-slavery adherents and Kansas "jayhawkers," went to Johnson county. He left his home sorely against his own inclinations and only yielded to the importunities of his relatives and friends in the end. Becoming anxious about his family he returned to his home during the winter and a band of "jayhawkers" came to the home with the intention of killing him. Snow lay deep upon the ground and the cold was intense. Mr. Woodfin escaped through a window and made his way to the nearby wood where he remained all night until his enemies had left. The exposure resulted in a severe cold which caused his death soon afterward. By his first mar- riage with Hannah Hyatt, he had four sons and two daughters. His second wife was Mrs. Emily (Bryant) Granthem, widow of a "forty- niner" who died on his way home by sea from the gold fields of Cali- fornia. A daughter born of his first marriage is yet living-Mrs. Miller, wife of Rev. William Miller of New Home.
J. S. Woodfin's first wife was Ruth Turner, who died during the Civil War leaving three daughters: Mary, wife of James H. Sacre, Charlotte township; Mrs. Alice Warman, died in Colorado; Mrs. Lucy Williams, widow living at Wellsville, Kansas. During the Civil War, Jason S. Woodfin served for a time in the state militia in Capt. John Newberry's company and then spent the remainder of the time on the western plains and in Colorado. He served as a government teamster until 1865. He then returned to Bates county and engaged in farming on his Walnut township land. He was married then to Miss Prudence E. Miller, who bore him the following children: Mrs. Elizabeth Char- lotte McHenry, Foster, Missouri: Mrs. Lillie May Clouse, deceased ; Frances J., wife of William Hyatt, Grant county, Oregon: Mrs. Emily C. Lester, Aberdeen, Washington; Mrs. Prudence Olive Farrell, Colo- rado; Mrs. Ethel Goodenough, Foster, Bates county; Maude A., wife of E. L. Thomas, New Home township; Jason S., living in Idaho, married in April, 1900 to Cannie Sells, of Butler, who died August 4, 1915, leav- ing three children, Ree Jefferson, Prudence B., and Lillie May; Willie Cleveland, deceased ; Mrs. Minnie Ellen Blevin, Walnut township.
Mrs. Prudence (Miller) Woodfin was born November 5, 1848 on a pioneer farm located four miles east of Foster, Bates county. She is a daughter of Oliver Hazard Perry Miller, a native of Missouri, and Charlotte (Vryans) Miller. O. H. P. Miller was born in Franklin county. Missouri in 1815 and died in the Federal prison at Springfield, Missouri,
478
HISTORY OF BATES COUNTY
April 30, 1863. He was a son of Samuel Miller, a native of Pennsylvania, who was among the first pioneers of Franklin county, Missouri, settling at Miller's Landing on the Missouri river. At the age of seventeen years, O. H. P. Miller left home and located in Bates county in 1832. His first settlement was made north of the Marais des Cygnes river and in 1845 he came to New Home township and settled on a farm one-half mile east of old New Home. When the Civil War broke out he lost every- thing, the home and buildings being burned and his live stock stolen or killed. In the fall of 1861 the family removed to Henry county and remained there until the spring of 1866. O. H. P. Miller and his oldest son left home for the war and served with the Confederate forces. Henry Miller, the son, was killed at the battle of Lone Jack, August 8, 1862. O. H. P. was quartermaster and served with Captain John McCombs' company. He was taken prisoner in Arkansas and interred in the Fed- eral prison at Springfield, where his death occurred. His eight children were as follow: Henry Clay, deceased; Rev. William Barton Miller, New Home, Missouri; Emily Jane, deceased; Mrs. Prudence E. Wood- fin, Walnut township; Susan Mahala, wife of W. A. Comer, living near Nevada, Missouri; Lucinda, wife of Charles B. Briscoe, Walnut town- ship; Josephine, deceased; John, residing near New Home; and Martha, wife of John Weadon, New Home township. After the war the family settled on the old place and rebuilt the home and made another start. Time healed the wounds and sorrows caused by the misfortunes of war and they prospered. The mother died March 12, 1890, at the age of seventy-six years.
After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Woodfin started housekeeping in a little log house of one room to which he added other rooms as the family increased and they were able. They owned an eighty-acre tract which had been given to Mr. Woodfin by his father. He entered land and purchased other tracts as he was financially able and at the time of his death, he was owner of five hundred twenty acres. All that the family had left at the close of the Civil War was an old log cabin, with both doors and windows gone and all the fences on the place were burned and the orchard uprooted and reset in Kansas. During his later years, Mr. Woodfin was ill for a good part of the time and Mrs. Woodfin courageously shouldered the burden of caring for her husband and looking after their extensive farm interests. Mr. Woodfin died September 9, 1899, aged sixty-five years.
Mr. Woodfin was a life-long Democrat who was ever loyal to his
479
HISTORY OF BATES COUNTY
party. He was a member of the Christian church and was a good Chris- tian citizen who loved his home and fireside and was devoted to his wife and family. For over fifty-one years, his widow, Mrs. Prudence Wood- fin, has resided in the home which she and her husband made long ago, and has never left home except for visits to Idaho and among her chil- dren. She recalls the old pioneer days and remembers how happy the people were even in their rude surroundings. Her father, O. H. P. Miller taught the first school in New Home township, which was held in one room for a term of three months, of the double log cabin which was the Miller home in New Home township. Her father was a well educated man who was skilled in languages and familiar with the classics. Previous to the outbreak of the war he had built a fine mansion on his farm, native woods such as walnut being used in its construction, one room of which was lined with book shelves. When the family went to Henry county and located near Clinton for safety during the war the house was first looted of its contents and then burned to the ground by marauders on Christmas night. The father of John Woodfin was Thomas Woodfin who came with his family to Johnson county, Missouri, when he was an old man and mainly spent his time in fishing and hunt- ing while his sons all engaged in farming. He accompanied his family to Bates county and died here. Mrs. Woodfin is energetic and capable and well preserved, despite her age, and still looks after her farm. She prefers to reside in the home which has served her for so many years rather than move to the town or city. She is a member of the Christian church and is a devout Christian who is always ready to assist in worthy undertakings. She is one of the most honored and most highly respected of the Bates county pioneer women.
Mark Henry Thomas, better known as "Mark" Thomas, proprietor of the "White Rock Farm" in Walnut township, consisting of one hun- dred thirty acres of excellent land, is a native of Bates county, a mem- ber of one of the oldest and most honored pioneer families of western Missouri. The Thomas home is a pretty cottage situated upon a rise of ground, overlooking Walnut township to the westward, located just a short distance from the town of Foster. The improvements on the place were all built under Mr. Thomas' direction and the farm is equipped with a large white barn, 36 x 40 feet in size with a height of sixteen feet to square, and a sixty-ton silo. Mr. Thomas is engaged in general farming and raises cattle and hogs for the markets. He was born September 11, 1878, in New Home township and is a son of James
480
HISTORY OF BATES COUNTY
Pendleton Thomas, familiarly known as "Uncle Jim," one of the oldest of the Bates county pioneers and a patriarch in his own right because of his great age and his long residence in New Home township. (See biography.)
M. H. Thomas attended the school in the Virginia district near his home and also studied in the Foster public schools. When twenty years of age, he began farming on his own account on rented land. Some time later, his father, in making a division of his estate among his chil- dren, gave him a tract of eighty acres of land which he improved in December of 1900, and January of 1901. In 1910, he received another gift of forty acres, and to this has added ten acres, making one hundred thirty acres in all, which he owns.
On December 21, 1898, M. H. Thomas and Emma Jane Clouse were united in marriage. Mrs. Emma Thomas was born October 25, 1881, in Walnut township, Bates county, a daughter of William Henry and Lavina (Shroyer) Clouse, natives of Ohio and Illinois, respectively. Mr. and Mrs. Clouse came to Missouri in the early seventies and later made a settlement in Walnut township. Mr. Clouse is now making his home in Oklahoma. The reader is referred to the sketch of W. D. Clouse, a brother of Mrs. Thomas, for further and more detailed in- formation regarding the history of the Clouse family. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Thomas: Glenard, born May 6, 1902, a student in Butler High School; and Lelia Orlena, born October 19, 1899, wife of Lawrence Galvin, a farmer living in New Home township. While Mr. Thomas is a professed Democrat, he is inclined to vote in- dependently in local political elections. He and Mrs. Thomas are mem- bers of the Christian church and Mr. Thomas belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America.
Gustavus A. Corbin, old settler of Howard township, proprietor of a splendid farm of two hundred thirty-four acres, has the distinction of having taught the first public school ever organized in the town of Hume, Missouri. Mr. Corbin came to Missouri in 1871 and has resided on his present home farm for twenty-nine years. This farm was origi- nally a gift from his father, a Virginian, who had traded for a tract of land in Bates county without seeing the land and offered the quarter section to his son, Gustavus, while stipulating that the son should come to Missouri and improve the tract, after trying vainly to induce his father to deed the land to him without the necessity of coming out here and improving it, young Corbin decided that he had better make
481
HISTORY OF BATES COUNTY
a trip to Missouri and see about his legacy. He has never regretted coming and has prospered with his neighbors who have taken part in the development of Bates county as a great agricultural center.
G. A. Corbin was born July 22, 1846, in Harrison county, West Virginia, a son of Oliver P. and Nancy Ann (Taylor) Corbin, natives of Virginia. Oliver P. Corbin was a son of John Corbin, of Culpepper county, Virginia, a soldier in the War of 1812, stationed at Norfolk, Virginia, for some time during the war. The direct progenitor of the Corbin family is reputed to have been a British soldier, a Scotch-Irish- man, who came to America with the British forces during the American Revolution, and for some reason or other, probably because he was impressed with the right of the colonial cause, he deserted the British and allied with the American side, fought for the Independence of the Colonies against his former comrades. Oliver P. Corbin lived all his days in West Virginia and died there. He was twice married and was father of seventeen children. G. A. Corbin's mother died in 1856.
G. A. Corbin received a good education in his native county in West Virginia and began teaching school when still a very young man. He taught in his native state until his removal to Missouri in 1871. He continued teaching school after his arrival in this state and taught, in all for ten years. To him belongs the honor of having taught the first free public school held at Hume, Missouri, in 1882, this first school being held for a period of nine months. In 1872, Mr. Corbin located at old Papinvile. In 1881, he located in Howard township, this county, and has since remained here. He engaged in teaching until his removal to his farm in February, 1889. Mr. Corbin erected the residence and all buildings situated upon the place and set out all the shade trees which serve to beautify the place. He has been engaged in general farming and stock raising until of late years his son has relieved him of the burden of the hard tasks of cultivating his land.
Mr. Corbin was first married in 1871 to Harriet McDonald, of West Virginia. She died in 1873. His second marriage occurred September 6, 1882, with Margaret L. Shockley, of Illinois, born April 30, 1860, a daughter of John Shockley, a native of Pennsylvania, and Catherine (Beck) Shockley, a native of Ohio. John and Catherine Shockley were married in Illinois, where both had removed with their respective parents. John Shockley served as captain of Company "I", One Hundred Sixth Illinois Infantry throughout the Civil War. He came to Bates county, (31)
482
HISTORY OF BATES COUNTY
Missouri, and settled on a farm three miles north of Papinsville. His wife died in 1914 at the age of seventy-nine years. Mr. Shockley was born February 21, 1831, and is still strong and active, despite his advanced age. He reared a family of nine children: John B., died in April, 1914; Louisa, wife of D. O. Bradley, Rich Hill; Ada, wife of Frank Seelinger, Greeley, Colorado; Mrs. Margaret L. Corbin; Emma, died as the result of injuries received in an auto wreck, which occurred on the road between Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and Ringgold, in 1915, her death taking place in the town of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, in September of 1915, her father receiving painful injuries at the same time, they both returning from a visit to the Gettysburg battlefield; Mrs. Nora Maupin, and Mrs. Cora Kelly, twins, reside at Waurika, Oklahoma; Nathaniel, on part of the old home place in Prairie township, near Papinsville; and James C., also on a part of the home place in the same neighborhood, in Prairie township. To G. A. and Margaret L. Corbin have been born children, as follow: Mrs. Catherine Smith, born July 11, 1883, lives at Santa Barbara, California, and has one child, Earl Dillon, born May 26, 1907; Oliver G., born April 1, 1889, now a private in the National Army, was formerly engaged in the gas engine and vulcanizing business at Bottineau, North Dakota; Ivan, born April 19, 1891, an instructor in bookkeeping and commercial law in Spalding's Commercial College at Kansas City, member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; John Byron, born December 23, 1893, at home with his parents, manager of the Corbin farm, a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Blue Lodge of Hume, Missouri, and of the Chapter at Rich Hill.
Politically, Mr. Corbin has generally been allied with the Demo- cratic party, as are his sons. Mrs. Corbin is a member of the Metho- dist Episcopal church.
William Wheatley, substantial farmer and stockman of New Home township, proprietor of two farms, aggregating three hundred sixty acres located in New Home township, is one of the old settlers of Bates county. Perhaps the greatest thing to Mr. Wheatley's credit, during his long and successful career in this county, has been his ambition and determination to give each member of his family of children the benefit of a thorough education in preparation for their own careers. He has done this, at personal sacrifices on several occasions, but has never regretted putting into effect his well-defined plans of educating his children. His reward is, and will be, the satisfaction of knowing
483
HISTORY OF BATES COUNTY
that each and every member of his family will be better citizens and better equipped to take their places in the world than if he had allowed them to grow up without the necessary training and opportunities for acquiring knowledge which he has bestowed upon them.
William Wheatley was born in Lucas county, North Carolina, in 1848, son of James and Elizabeth (Shumate) Wheatley, children of Vir- ginia parents. In 1857, James Wheatley made a trip to the state of Missouri for the purpose of looking over the country and finding a location for a new home. This decided upon, he returned home and moved his family by wagons to Johnson county, Missouri, in 1859. There was a considerable party of North Carolina people in the com- pany which came to Missouri and misfortune befell the company. For some reason or other, twenty-five members of the company contracted disease and died, either on the journey northward or after they had arrived in Johnson county. The trouble is thought to have been due to the bad water which they were obliged, of necessity, to drink. James Wheatley and his daughter, Jane, were two of the band who succumbed to disease and died on the same day in 1860, not long after their arrival in Johnson county. The family settled on a farm near Warrensburg, Missouri, and there William Wheatley remained until 1874. In that year he came to New Home township, Bates county, and bought twenty acres of land upon which he built a small, box house. He had no money when he came to this county and became a land-owner by trading a team and wagon for a half interest in the twenty acres. Mr. Wheatley had met with serious financial reverses in Johnson county and his object in coming to Bates county was to get a new start. He has never regretted coming and prosperity has smiled upon him during the many years of his residence in New Home township. He has built up a splendid estate. During his first four years in this county, Mr. Wheat- ley suffered greatly from chills and fever, and, in order to get rid of the affliction, made a trip to Texas, and the change of climate proved beneficial to him. The little twenty-acre tract grew to a fine farm of two hundred eighty acres through additions, and, in 1910, Mr. Wheat- ley purchased the "eighty" where his present home is located. His son-in-law is operating his former home place. The Wheatley farm has a never-failing spring which supplies water for the stock and the residence.
Mr. Wheatley was married in 1872 to Elizabeth Grier of Johnson county, who died in 1890, leaving two children: Carlos, a railroad man
484
HISTORY OF BATES COUNTY
in Oklahoma; and Mrs. Lillian Bowan, Visalia, California. His second marriage, in 1892, was with Mrs. Margaret (Moore) Graves, widow of George Graves, and daughter of Macklin Moore. By her first mar- riage with George Graves, Mrs. Wheatley had three children, namely : William, living in Kansas; Roy, deceased; and George Graves, deceased. To William and Margaret (Graves) Wheatley have been born seven children: Mrs. Julia Ayer, Rich Hill, Missouri; Dr. James Wheatley, a practicing dentist, Seneca, Kansas; Mrs. Goldie Caton, New Home township; Ivy and Ira, twins, the former a teacher in the public schools, and the latter, at home; Mary, a student in Rich Hill High School; and Mildred.
Mr. Wheatley has generally been a follower and supporter of Repub- lican principles but has never taken an active part in political affairs. He belongs to no lodge or organization which would have a tendency to take him from the bosom of his family. He is an exemplary citi- zen whose course in life has been marked by a steadfast devotion to his wife and children, and everything which he accomplishes is with the end in view that the different members can be comfortable and happy.
Isaac H. Botkin, retired farmer, Union veteran, and Bates county pioneer, is one of the grand old men of Bates county. He is now living comfortably retired in Foster and his long life has been an eventful and very useful one. Mr. Botkin was born in Belmont county, Ohio, March 10, 1834. His parents were R. C. and Rachel (Vernon) Botkin, natives of Maryland and Pennsylvania respectively. His mother was born on the banks of the historic Brandywine in the Keystone state. Both his father and mother lived all of their days in Belmont county, Ohio. The Botkin family is one of the oldest and best known of the old American families and its members are prominent in various sections of the United States. Secretary of State Thomas H. Botkin of Kansas is a relative of Isaac H. Botkin, subject of this biographical review. There were ten children in the Botkin family, all of whom are deceased except two. The children were as follow: Maria, born January 27, 1819; Arlotto, born August 21, 1820; Benjamin V., born July 15, 1822; Sarah, born April 7, 1825; Elma N., born July 25, 1827; John Y., born April 5, 1829; Susan Y., born March 21, 1832 ; Isaac Harry, born March 10, 1834; Catherine E., born July 4, 1836; Caroline, born July 12, 1839. The only member of this family living besides Isaac Harry Botkin, is Mrs. Susan Y. Chap- man, of Claysville, Washington county, Pennsylvania.
In the spring of 1858, Isaac H. Botkin went westward to Iowa and
ISAAC H. BOTKIN.
485
HISTORY OF BATES COUNTY
settled in Adams county, where he purchased one hundred sixty acres of land. He erected a small cabin, and broke up the land for his first crops with a breaking plow pulled by ox teams. Civil War breaking out between the Union and the Southern states, he enlisted in Company C, Fourth Regiment of Iowa Cavalry on November 15, 1861 and served until his honorable discharge at Atlanta, Georgia, August 17, 1865. He was sixth sergeant of his company, and after his term of enlistment expired he re-enlisted as a veteran December 12, 1863, and was promoted to the post of first lieutenant of Company I on February 18, 1865, under General Winslow. His first battle in the war was at Pea Ridge, after which he was placed in charge of two thousand prisoners who were to be escorted from Rolla, Missouri to Springfield. His command then went to Batesville, down the White river to Helena. He was then detached from his command and sent back to southwestern Iowa on recruiting duty. This work being performed he returned to Camp McConnell at Davenport, Iowa, and a short time later was ordered to report to his regiment which was to take part in the siege of Vicksburg under Gen- eral Grant. After the fall of Vicksburg they were ordered to destroy the Central Mississippi railroad as far as the environs of Memphis, thus severing one of the arteries of communication held by the Confederates. This task partly accomplished, they went to Yazoo City where they awaited supplies. Their provision ship being grounded in the river, the men of the regiment elected to go on without their supplies and finish the task of tearing up the railroad. From Memphis they were then ordered back to Vicksburg. Other engagements in which this valiant soldier participated were Gunntown, Mississippi; Tupelo, Mis- sissippi ; Jackson, Mississippi ; Champion Hills ; battles which were fought before the siege and capture of Vicksburg. His next encampment was at Louisville, Kentucky, where his regiment remained until the spring of 1865, and then proceeded to Gravelly Springs, Tennessee, under Gen- erals Wilson and Upton who moved out and struck the forces of General Forrest at Selby. Alabama, capturing the Confederate forces and blow- ing up the munition supplies. They then crossed the river and took Fort Montgomery and after a night attack, captured Columbus, Georgia. They met a flag of truce at Macon, Georgia and learned that General Lee had surrendered. After receiving his discharge at Atlanta, he with the regiment was sent to Davenport, Iowa, and mustered out.
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.