History of Bates County, Missouri, Part 76

Author: Atkeson, William Oscar, 1854-
Publication date: 1918
Publisher: Topeka, Cleveland, Historical publishing company
Number of Pages: 1174

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was born January 3, 1880 at the Herman homestead in Shawnee town- ship, Bates county, Missouri, a son of John A., Sr. and Mrs. Herman, pioneers of Shawnee township. John A. Herman, Sr. came to this part of Bates county, Missouri in 1868 and settled on the farm where he now resides and which his son, John A., Jr., manages. Mr. Herman, Sr. has been one of the most successful and prominent farmers and stock- men of western Missouri and in former days a hard worker. He placed all the improvements now on his place, a tract of land embracing two hundred forty acres, including a handsome residence, two well-con- structed barns, and a silo. Formerly, Mr. Herman, Sr. was a busy stockman, but he has now retired from active farm labor. He is eighty- two years of age. John A. Herman, Jr., manages his father's place in addition to his own, an eighty-acre tract of land, upon which his store is located.

In Shawnee township, Bates county, John A. Herman, Jr. was born, reared, and educated. He resided on the home place until about eight years ago, dating from the time of this writing in 1918, at which time he purchased J. W. Cole's general store at Culver, Missouri and he moved to his farm, previously mentioned, and has since been engaged in the mercantile business in addition to farming and managing his father's country place. Mr. Herman, Jr. carries an excellent and com- plete line of general merchandise and from the time of his entering the business to date has had a splendid trade. He hauls his merchandise from Passaic and his store is a convenient market for the produce from the surrounding country. He is located on Rural Route 2 from Butler, Missouri. The Culvers of Butler, Missouri conducted the first mercan- tile establishment at this place, which was named in honor of them. Mr. Herman, Jr.'s farm and store are located eleven and one-fourth miles northeast of Butler, Missouri and eight miles east of Passaic.

John A. Herman, Jr., was united in marriage with Aline Charters, a daughter of William H. and Margaret (Carroll) Charters, a sketch of whom will be found elsewhere in this volume. Mr. Charters is now deceased and his widow resides at Butler, Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. John A. Herman, Jr. are highly regarded in their community and popular with the young people of their township.

Alonzo Wilson Shay, a prosperous and successful farmer and stock- man of Lone Oak township, is a native of Kentucky. Mr. Shay was born October 20, 1858, in Allen county, a son of Thomas and Nancy (Dobbs) Shay, the father, a native of Ireland and the mother, of Ken-

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tucky. Mrs. Shay died in Kentucky in 1859. Thomas Shay enlisted with the Federal army and served throughout the war of 1861 and died at the close of the conflict at Louisville, Kentucky.

Mr. Shay, whose name introduces this review, was educated in the public schools of Bates county, Missouri. He came to this state in 1869 with his guardian, James Wygal, and with him resided for many years. Mr. Wygal went to California about thirty years ago and there his death occurred. He owned a farm in Lone Oak township, the place now owned by the Lyons brothers. Alonzo Wilson Shay was first employed in Bates county by Dr. Decatur Smith at a remuneration of ten dollars a month. Doctor Smith is still living at Butler, Missouri and a sketch of him appears elsewhere in this volume. Mr. Shay labored by the month until the time of his marriage in 1881. During the autumn and winter of 1869, Mr. Shay and twenty-six others from Illinois camped at Rocky Ford in Lone Oak township, all in one building having a fire- place fourteen feet in length. Dr. T. C. Boulware, of Butler, was the first physician whose services were needed that winter at Rocky, Ford. ' When Alonzo Wilson Shay was a boy, eleven years of age, he assisted in hauling the lumber from Pleasant Hill, Missouri, fifty-five miles away, used in the construction of the residence of Laben Warren, which is across the road from Mr. Shay's present home. L. P. Carlton was the proprie- tor of the country place, now owned by Alonzo Wilson Shay, in 1869 and the latter recalls that in the autumn of that year Mr. Carlton was putting out an orchard on his farm. Mr. Shay purchased his first tract of land in New Home township, Bates county, in 1882 and at the present time is owner of one hundred thirteen acres of land in that township, a nicely improved farm, in addition to his sixty-eight acres of land in Lone Oak township, where he resides. Mr. Shay farms both places and is profitably engaged in general farming and stock raising, keeping cattle, hogs, and horses. The Shay residence was built in 1911 and is one of the attractive, comfortable homes of the township. The Shays receive mail on Rural Route 6 from Butler, Missouri.

March 15, 1881 Alonzo Wilson Shay was united in marriage with Ella B. McClintock, a daughter of Dr. H. D. McClintock, an early pio- neer physician from Virginia, who settled in Bates county in 1869. Mrs. Shay was born in Virginia. To Alonzo Wilson and Ella B. (McClin- tock) Shay were born the following children: Wilson, who died Sep- tember 21, 1914; Clarence L., of El Paso, Texas ; Lulu, the wife of How- ard Hooper, of Midland, Texas: George Emmett, of El Paso, Texas;

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Charles F., who died November 12, 1911. One son, Henry Arthur, died in infancy on February 14, 1885. The mother died November 20, 1893 and her remains were laid to rest in Morris cemetery. On March 9, 1897 the marriage of Alonzo Wilson Shay and Mrs. Emma (Spicer) Morgan, widow of Henry Morgan, was solemnized. Mrs. Shay's father, James Spicer, was a native of Delaware and her mother, Margaret (Reesor) Spicer, of Ohio. He died February 2, 1890 and his wife was united in death with him on July 29, 1899. Both parents died in Jewell county, Kansas. Mrs. Shay was first married to Henry Morgan and to them were born three children : Maud Ethel, who is employed as teacher in Black district in Bates county, Missouri; Odie, who died November 17, 1892; and Mrs. Stella M. Rowden, of Jamestown, Colorado. All the children were born in Jewell county, Kansas. Their father, Henry Mor -. gan, was a native of Illinois. He had resided in Lone Oak township, Bates county but one year when his death occurred on December 12, 1893.

There is no man in Bates county more worthy of the title "a self- made man" than is Mr. Shay. Left motherless in infancy and father- less at the age of seven years, a poor orphan boy, Alonzo Wilson Shay has by industry, thrift, and perseverance proven his sterling worth and is now one of the most substantial citizens of Lone Oak township.

Jefferson Sells, father of C. J. Sells of Butler, came to Bates county in the early fifties and located in Walnut township. When the war broke out, being of Southern sympathies, he decided to go to Lawrence county, Missouri to escape the danger of the Kansas raiders. His father, John Sells, came with him to Bates county and he was leaving for the same destination. He had gone ahead with his wagon and Jefferson and John Sells, his sons, were driving the stock. As they came to the crossing at Walnut, bushwhackers supposedly Kansas jayhawkers, ambushed them and both brothers were killed. Of the seven or eight men in the party all escaped but the two brothers. The home on the John Sells farm in Walnut township was one of the few that escaped the ravages of the war.

C. J. Sells, now living in Butler, Missouri, was left an orphan when about three years of age and his grandmother reared him. He farmed for some years in Walnut township prior to coming to Butler. His wife was Bell Osburn of Pleasant Gap township whose father also was killed in the border warfare. He was called out from his residence on Double Branches and shot. Mr. and Mrs. Sells have five children : Charles Sells,

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Horseshoe Bend, Idaho; Ethel, who married Jason Woodfin, now dead; Inez, now Mrs. Ira Rockhold of Butler; Cannie, a daughter, at home. Clyde L., the third of the children, is now in France. He attended Mis- souri University at Columbia, Missouri, and took military training there as well and enlisted with a Montana company with a lieutenant's com- mission.

Judge R. F. Harper .- The life story of Judge R. F. Harper, a lead- ing citizen of Bates county, and highly successful agriculturist of Char- lotte township, ex-presiding judge of the county court, and pioneer set- tler, takes one back over a half century of the development period of this county. The tale of his career in this county begins at a time when the entire territory which comprises this county was in an unsettled state and much of the land was open prairie over which herds of deer roamed and wild game was plentiful. There were few roads in the county, and such as the pioneers traveled on their way to market were but beaten trails which lead straight across country to the destination. The nearest trading and shipping point was at Pleasant Hill, fifty miles away, and it was a two or three days' journey to carry produce to this market. The period of Judge Harper's life previous to locating in Bates county, borders on the romantic and savors of the old days of the bound- less Western plains which he crossed on foot. It would reveal something of the life of the hardy adventurer in the mining camps of the Rocky mountains, and subsequent service under the Union flag in the wilds of Colorado and New Mexico and the stirring scenes of a campaign against hostile Indians in which he participated. R. F. Harper was born March 23, 1841 in Athens county, Ohio and was a son of Theron and Catherine (Allen) Harper. His father was born in Allegheny county, Pennsylvania and his mother was born in Gallia county, Ohio. The par- ents of Theron Harper were early settlers in Athens county, Ohio, and here the father of R. F. Harper was reared to manhood and married. Both of Judge Harper's parents lived all of their days in Athens county, Ohio, and died there, the father dying in January, 1851. They were parents of ten children.

After receiving such education as was afforded by the public schools of his neighborhood, R. F. Harper attended the old Albany Academy in Athens county. His father died when the son was ten years old and he then assisted in the support of his widowed mother and his brothers and sisters until the second marriage of his mother. He then made his home with an uncle who assisted him in acquiring an education. Thrilled

JUDGE R. F. HARPER.

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with the news of the great gold discovery at Pike's Peak, early in 1860, he determined to make his way to the new gold fields. He got as far as St. Joseph, Missouri, and there persuaded a freighter to allow him to accompany his outfit. The freighter agreed to feed him the entire dis- tance to Denver but it was necessary for him to make his way afoot. He paid the freighter twenty-five dollars for this privilege. There were seven men and one woman in the party which convoyed one wagon loaded with freight and drawn by ox-teams. The seven men took turns herding the oxen upon camping at night, Mr. Harper taking his turn regularly. Mr. Harper walked the entire distance of six hundred miles in thirty-two days and arrived in Denver, then a straggling frontier camp, with but five dollars in his pocket. This money was soon stolen from him by a man whom he thought was a friend and he obtained employment as a miner at a wage of one dollar per day and his board. He humorously recalls that he got the board all right but never received the dollar-per-day wages which were promised him.

On August 20, 1861, he enlisted in Company E, First Colorado Cavalry and served for four years, two months and ten days. Pre- viously, he had made up his mind to go to Leavenworth, Kansas, and join the command of Col. Jim Lane, the famous Kansan who had taken such a prominent part in the struggle to make Kansas a free state. Mr. Harper saw active and continuous service of the hardest frontier char- acter in Colorado and New Mexico. He took part in the battle of Apache Canyon, twenty miles from Santa Fe and fought from March 26 to March 28, 1862. His command met and engaged the Confederate forces and drove them back to Santa Fe. Later he participated in another engagement on the Rio Grande below Albuquerque. In 1864, the west- ern Indians became hostile and a great uprising was threatened. His command was sent against them on the plains of Kansas and Colorado and they operated as far east as old Fort Dodge, Kansas. He was hon- orably discharged from the service on October 30, 1865, at Denver and started at once for home. The Indians were still troublesome and it was dangerous for white men to travel except in considerable bodies. In order to retain their side arms the discharged soldiers were required to pay for them. This he did, retaining both rifle and revolver. At Julesburg, Colorado, Mr. Harper and others organized into a formidable and well armed band of one hundred men and made the trip across the plains to civilization in safety. He then went to Johnson county, Missouri, arriving there in November, 1865, and rented a farm owned

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by an uncle until March 19, 1868, at which time he came to Bates county and made a permanent settlement in Charlotte township.

Mr. Harper has a splendid farm of two hundred seventy-six acres in the southwestern part of Charlotte township with substantial and imposing improvements. His large, handsome residence is located on an elevation overlooking the river valley of the Marais des Cygnes and he has had the extreme satisfaction of creating his fine farm from unbroken land during the fifty and more years since he first came to this county. In the early days of his residence here, Mr. Harper saw plenty of deer, wild turkeys and prairie chickens from the doorway of his home. He is a progressive farmer and maintains a fine herd of thor- oughbred Red Polled cattle.

While on a furlough in 1864 to the old homestead in Athens county, Ohio, he was married to Miss Olive Young, a native of Athens county, Ohio, and daughter of John and Mary (Higgins) Young. This mar- riage was solemnized on June 26, 1864, and has been a happy and prosperous one. Miss Young was a school mate and old sweetheart of his younger days, and it is probable that Mr. Harper had plighted his troth with her before he made the adventurous trip to the far West. Three children have blessed this marriage: Thaddeus S., well-to-do stockman and farmer owning a splendid farm in Charlotte township; Katherine, wife of Luther Judy, Charlotte township; and John T., the youngest, a successful farmer of Charlotte township, and residing on the old home place. John T. married Florence Bean, and has two chil- dren. Roderick David, born January 18, 1897, and Mary.

Judge Harper has long been a leader of the Republican party in Bates county and has filled various township offices such as assessor, trustee, and tax collector, serving several terms in office. He served as presiding judge of the county court January 1, 1907 to 1911 and acquitted himself acceptably in this important position. During his term of office the drainage project for the Marais des Cygnes flood area was inaugur- ated in 1906 and as presiding judge he signed the first issue of three hundred fifty-five thousand dollars worth of bonds to pay for the drain- age ditch in 1907. He is inclined to be independent in his political views and votes independently in local affairs.

Mrs. Asenath C. Barrows, who died at Rich Hill, Missouri, January 28, 1908, was born at Union Mission, fifteen miles east of Ft. Gibson, Indian Territory, January 5, 1822. Her father, Rev. William F. Vaill, a graduate of Yale College, and later a pastor of the Presbyterian church

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HISTORY OF BATES COUNTY

at North Gilford, Connecticut, was sent in the year 1820, by the board of the United Foreign Missionary Society in New York City, to establish the aforesaid mission. In less than two years after their arrival, the sub- ject of this sketch was born, and at this mission was thoroughly taught, by her cultured parents and other instructors, in divine as well as literary matters.

Among some of the notable happenings was the visit at different occasions of Washington Irving and Gen. Sam Houston, who were guests of her father at the mission, while Irving was making his tour to the wild western prairies, and upon which is based his story of the "Capture of the Wild Horse," found in "McGuffey's Fourth Reader." The time arrived for placing Asenath in school to complete her education. In the summer of 1834, in company with her father and mother, she made an overland trip to Lexington, Missouri, where they took passage by steamboat for St. Louis, making the trip to Cincinnati, where three days were spent visiting the family of Rev. Lyman Beecher. On this occasion Mrs. Bar- rows made the acquaintance of Miss Harriet Beecher, a young lady then of eighteen years, who afterward became Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, being a sister of Henry Ward Beecher, and a woman who became cele- brated as author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin." From thence to New York City and on Long Island to Hadlyme, Connecticut, the original home of her parents, where in a short time her mother died.

Miss Vaill was soon after placed in the Munson Academy. While there she became a member of the Congregational church. From the Munson Academy she was sent to the Mount Holyoke Seminary at Holy- oke, Massachusetts, where she received two years of thorough training. At this time Miss Vaill was nineteen years of age. She then returned to the West, arriving in December, 1841. Here she met Freeman Barrows, a young man from New Bedford, Massachusetts, a man of good business attainments and at that time the county and circuit clerk of Bates county, Missouri, to whom she was married August 23. 1842, soon afterward locating two miles east of the old town of Papinsville.

In April, 1861 Mr. Barrows died. Mrs. Barrows continued to reside here until 1892, having lived a half century on the estate where she and her husband first located in 1842. The last four years of her life were spent at her home in Rich Hill.

Waller Washington Graves, member of the supreme court of Mis- souri since April, 1906, his term to continue until 1918, was born in Lafayette county, this state, December 17, 1860. His father, Abram L.

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Graves, was a prosperous farmer of that county and subsequently became a resident of Bates county. He had been left an orphan at an early age and was reared by his grandfather, Abram Larsh, one of the earliest set- tlers of Lafayette county, the Larsh family having come from Maryland, where representatives of the name had resided from a period antedating the Revolution. The Graves family were mostly from North Carolina, where they owned and cultivated large cotton plantations prior to the Civil War. Abram L. Graves was born in Palmyra, Missouri, and has made farming his life work. He wedded Martha E. Pollard, a native of Kentucky, whose girlhood, however, was largely passed in this state. She came of an old Virginia family. Her mother was a Waller and her ancestors were nearly all people who were among the colonists of this country. Several of the family took part in the struggle for American independence. Mrs. Graves passed away in 1910.

At the usual age, Waller W. Graves became a public-school pupil in his native county and later had the advantage of training in the State University until 1881. He took up the profession of teaching, but regarded that merely as an initial step to other professional labor. He read law in the office of Parkinson & Abernathy, two of the prominent attorneys in his section of the state, and was admitted to practice by the circuit court at Butler in 1885. That his former preceptor, Judge Parkinson, had entertained high regard for the young law student is indicated in the fact that he admitted him at once to a partnership that was maintained until 1893, when it was dissolved by reason of Judge Parkinson's removal to Kansas City. Mr. Graves was then joined by Harvey C. Clark under the style of Graves & Clark and they soon gained a place among the prominent representatives of the bar of southwestern Missouri.

Various positions of trust have been accorded Mr. Graves who through appointment of Governor Marmaduke became school com- missioner of Bates county to fill a vacancy, and at the close of the term he was reelected by a handsome majority. He undertook many reform steps and largely improved the condition and raised the stand- ard of the schools. Ever in sympathy with the cause of higher educa- tion, his fine executive talent was brought to the discharge of his duties and his efforts were highly satisfactorily effective. He was also city attorney of Butler from 1890 until 1892. He there continued in the practice of law as a member of the firm of Graves & Clark until 1899, when he was elected circuit judge, serving upon the circuit bench for

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a term of six years. He then resumed law practice, but in April, 1906, was again called to a judicial position in his appointment to succeed Judge Marshall of the state supreme court, who had resigned. Later in the same year he was elected for a short term of two years and in 1908 was reelected for the full term of ten years.

On the 30th of June, 1892, Mr. Graves was married, in Butler, to Miss Alice M. Ludwick, a lady of innate culture and refinement, daugh- ter of John L. and Mary (Fletcher) Ludwick, both of whom are now deceased. Her father was one of the first settlers of Bates county, and a splendid representative of the German American element. Mr. and Mrs. Graves have three children: Ludwick, attending the Will- iam Jewell College; Waller W., a graduate of the Jefferson City High School; and John L., aged twelve, attending the public schools. Some years ago a contemporary biographer wrote :

"Mr. Graves is one of Butler's most patriotic and enterprising citi- zens. Seldom is any plan instituted for the benefit of his town with which he is not identified. His progressiveness follows a course of the widest civic patriotism, in which there is no alloy of special self-interest, as is too often true of enterprises intended to benefit the community. The same distinction applies to his connection with politics, in which he engages solely because of his interests in and desire of good gov- ernment. Although a life-long and ardent Democrat, he lets it be known that he is not an office seeker, and the only ambition cherished by him is that of ranking high as a lawyer. He is a leader of his party and is always willing to give his services to the cause on the stump or in the council.

"Those who know him do not wonder that he is so thoroughly en rapport with the work of his profession, for he has been eminently fitted therefor both by nature and training. Tall and large, handsome, of commanding presence, with a rich, full and strong voice which has been highly cultivated, ready of speech and with an ample fund of words on which to draw, it is no exaggeration to state that he is one of the most pleasing, logical and convincing speakers among the lawyers of Missouri. In presenting a case to court or jury his arguments are always strong, forcible and clear, abounding in concise statements and logical reasoning. As a counsellor his judgment may always be de- pended upon and he is noted for his ready tact in the trial of a case. One of his strongest points is his thorough preparation in all cases that he undertakes and as a result he knows the strength and weakness

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of both sides of the contention and thus he is always ready for any eventuality. In the trial of a case he never takes extensive notes, but is possessed of the rare faculty of remembering the evidence in detail of all witnesses, their bearing on the stand, etc., and months afterward can readily call it to mind. This alone makes him formidable, as always being ready to take advantage of any discrepancies of conflicting state- ments. He is an expert technician and abounds with ready references, precedents and decisions ; in fact, he treats his profession as a technical science. The case that is so poor it has to depend upon the ability of the lawyer rather than evidence is fortunate if Mr. Graves appears in its behalf."

Judge Graves ranks today with the ablest jurists of Missouri and there are many who predict that still higher professional honors will come to him. In his conduct and relations he is a gentleman of the old school. In his profession he stands as a representative of that progress which has characterized the profession, being in close touch with the work of the courts in later years as well as the old time legal principles which constitute the foundation of the law.

Judge Graves was offered the appointment to the United States senate by Governor Gardner to succeed the late Senator Stone at the death of Senator Stone, but he declined to accept.

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History of Bates County, Missouri, Part 76

Author: Atkeson, William Oscar, 1854- Publication date: 1918 Publisher: Topeka, Cleveland, Historical publishing company Number of Pages: 1174

Author: Atkeson, William Oscar, 1854-
Publication date: 1918
Publisher: Topeka, Cleveland, Historical publishing company
Number of Pages: 1174