USA > Missouri > Bates County > History of Bates County, Missouri > Part 77
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Chester A. Chambers has been of great value to the development of Bates county in various capacities. For a number of years he was a progressive farmer and thus contributed toward the development of agricultural interests. At the same time and subsequently he engaged in teaching school and at present is the popular postmaster of But- ler, discharging his duties efficiently and with a courtesy toward the general public which has earned for him the general good-will.
Mr. Chambers was born in Bates county, July 10, 1871, and is a son of William Nelson and Martha Philena (Dobson) Chambers, the for- mer born in Ohio, March 2, 1841, and the latter in North Carolina in 1844. William N. Chambers followed farming throughout life with the exception of three years which he spent as a soldier during the Civil War. He enlisted in the Forty-second Ohio Infantry, becoming. a private in Company H, and he gallantly defended the Union for three years. Subsequent to the war, in the spring of 1866, he located in what is now Deepwater township, Bates county, on a farm of one hun- dred and sixty acres. The land is still in the possession of the family. There Mr. Chambers continued until his death, transforming prairie
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land into one of the most valuable agricultural properties of his dis- trict. As his means increased he added to his holdings, owning at the time of his death, February 14, 1892, four hundred and fifty acres. Al- though Mr. Chambers, Sr., was a public-spirited man, he never aspired to office. Besides carrying on general farming he was extensively interested in the livestock business, deriving a gratifying addition to his income from this line of endeavor. He was a member of the Pres- byterian church. Mrs. Chambers died May 1, 1881, and he subsequently married again, his second wife also having passed away. Mr. Cham- bers was the father of eight children, of whom our subject is the third in order of birth.
Chester A. Chambers acquired his education in the rural schools in Deepwater township, the Appleton City Academy and the State Normal School at Warrensburg. He was twenty years of age when his father died and in that year gave up his school work and returned to the homestead. There he remained for three years, farming during the summer seasons and attending school during the winter. He then took up teaching in the neighborhood but continued to farm and also engaged in the livestock business on the old home place. For about. twelve years he carried on these various interests but then experienced a severe attack of illness which forced him to give up the arduous labor connected with the operation of a farm. Selling out, he removed to Butler and a few weeks later again turned to teaching, filling a vacancy caused by the sudden death of an instructor. For five years Mr. Cham- bers was principal of the Franklin school of Butler. He has now been postmaster for a number of years but still is a landowner, giving his attention to the management of a valuable property one mile west of Butler, which he operates as a stock farm.
On February 13, 1894, Mr. Chambers married Miss Sue Helen Coleman, who was born in Bates county, Missouri, and is a daughter of Judge John Melender and Elizabeth (Bledsoe) Coleman, the former born in Kentucky, January 7, 1851, and the latter in Henry county, Mis- souri, December 26, 1854. The father came to Missouri with his family when quite young. He followed farming and also engaged in business as a contractor and carpenter and died July 22, 1913. Mr. and Mrs. Chambers have three children: Vivian Maurine, attending high school; and Bonny Mignon and Alice Elizabeth.
Mr. Chambers is a Republican and has always taken a most help- ful part in promoting the interests of his party. He was appointed
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postmaster under President Taft and at present serves in that capacity. He is an approachable, kindly and courteous gentleman and liked by all who know him. Mr. Chambers has held various township offices, among them that of assessor and is at present interested in the manage- ment of the city of Butler, representing the first ward in the city council, and is also an active member of the board of education. He stands high in the Masonic order, belonging to the chapter and council.
George Falloon, late prominent resident of Mound township, Bates county, was born in Toronto, Canada, April 3, 1852. He was the son of James and Mary Ann ( Frazier) Falloon, both of whom were natives of Canada and of Irish and English descent, respectively. James Falloon received a good education in Canada and learned the trade of carpenter and builder. He began his successful career as a contractor and builder in his native country and was possessed of a considerable fortune when he moved from Toronto to Wheeling, West Virginia. He became a builder of bridges with headquarters at Wheeling and had charge of the erection of the great bridge crossing the Ohio river at Wheeling. No task was too great for him to attempt, and he lost and made large sums of money in his various ventures. Some years later he located at Athens, Ohio and was engaged in the erection of public buildings and in rail- road construction in that vicinity. He became one of the prominent citizens of Athens and was a stanch and firm friend of the Ohio Uni- versity which was located at Athens. He was father of a family of ten children, eight sons and two daughters, three of whom are yet living. Six of the children of James Falloon died within two years past. A brother of George Falloon, who was a widely known lawyer in Nebraska, Hon. Edward Falloon, died at his home in Falls City, Nebraska, in April. 1917. At the time of his death he was the dean of the Richardson county, Nebraska bar and was admittedly one of the ablest attorneys in Nebraska. His son, Virgil Falloon, is now county judge of Richardson county.
George Falloon was educated in the public schools of Athens, Ohio, and received a classical and scientific education in the Ohio University, located in his home city. He educated himself for the profession of civil engineering and made it his life work. He served as county sur- veyor of Athens county and was associated with his father in his con- tracting business for some years. He took a prominent and active part in politics of his native state and served a term as a member of the Ohio State Senate, being a member of the Seventy-second Ohio General
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Assembly, 1896-1897. Like his father before him, he was a strong friend of the Ohio University, and while a member of the Ohio Senate, he introduced and had passed a bill providing for the permanent endow- ment of the university. He had previously established a lumber busi- ness in Athens, and he conducted this business until 1898, at which time he sold out his holdings in his home city and moved to Charleston, West Virginia, and engaged in the lumber business in that city for a few years. Some time during the eighties he had invested in a tract of about one thousand acres of land in Bates county, part of which is now owned by his daughter, Mrs. Miller, who owns six hundred fifty-seven acres of the original tract. In 1901 he came to Bates county and took charge of his large estate, maintaining a home and business in Kansas City, as well as a residence in Mound township, near Adrian. He conducted a loan business in Kansas City in addition to looking after his farming interests.
Mr. Falloon was married on December 29, 1875 to Susan E. Brown, a native of Athens county, Ohio, and this union was blessed with one child, a daughter, Jessie Brown, wife of A. A. Miller of Mound town- ship, concerning whom a sketch is given elsewhere in this volume. Mrs. Miller was educated in the public schools of Athens, and at the Ohio University, following which she studied in the Cincinnati College of Music, and the National Park Seminary, specializing in vocal and instru- mental music. For several years she was very much interested in church work and became widely and favorably known as a soloist of ability. She was first married to Charles W. Cooley and after the marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Cooley removed to Grainfield, Kansas, and resided on a ranch. Mr. Cooley died at Grainfield, September 25, 1905 and Mrs. Cooley conducted the ranch for six years after his death. An account of her marriage with Mr. A. A. Miller and subsequent movements is given in connection with Mr. Miller's sketch. She is mother of one child by her first marriage, Susan Falloon Cooley, born January 29, 1900.
George Falloon died May 7, 1915. His wife had preceded him in death over twenty years, her death occurring August 16, 1894. George Falloon was a successful business man, intelligent, broadminded. and widely read, a citizen who took a keen interest in the public questions of the day and was a writer of force and pronounced ability. He was opposed to the single tax theory and wrote a number of pamphlets and books giving his ideas upon the subject and setting forth valid reasons for not being in favor of the single tax idea. He also campaigned against
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the single tax and delivered many addresses in opposition to the plan. He was possessor of a mind which was unusually brilliant and was a close student of governmental affairs. While a resident of Athens he was constantly striving to advance the growth of his home city. He was a great reader of the standard authors and kept abreast of current literature. His diversion was in hunting and fishing and he enjoyed many fishing and hunting expeditions during his life. His favorite book was the Holy Bible of which he made a deep and thorough study, his researches only serving to confirm his belief in Christianity. Possessing a very retentive memory, when he became interested in any subject, he made a thorough and exhaustive study of its underlying principles and easily remembered his readings. George Falloon was a member of the Presbyterian church and was affiliated with the Ancient Free and Ac- cepted Masons. "Falloon Heights," the splendid country estate which he founded and built up, is located in the northern part of Mound town- ship, near the town of Adrian. The beautiful residence is situated almost in the middle of the tract which is two miles in length and one-half mile wide.
A. A. Miller of Mound township, has one of the largest and best equipped country estates in Bates county, the residence being fitted up with every modern convenience to facilitate the farm and house work. The farming operations of his tract of over six hundred acres are car- ried on, on an extensive scale and wherever possible, electric and gasoline power is made to do the work formerly done laboriously by hand. The Miller home, consisting of fourteen rooms, is one of the finest and most modern in Bates county to be found outside of the cities. There is little desire upon the part of the occupants to leave the farm for the comforts of the city when a modern automobile brings them to town in a few minutes, and when by simply pushing a button, the house is lighted by electricity generated by a private plant on the place. This modern home is also equipped with a water plant providing both hot and cold running water. Three tenant houses and commodious and well built barns and sheds adorn the Miller place. Mr. Miller was born on a farm near Oskaloosa, Iowa, Mahaska county, May 22, 1866, a son of George and Elizabeth (McDowell) Miller, the former of whom was a native of Zanesville, Ohio, and the latter a native of Piqua, Ohio.
George Miller was among the first settlers of Mahaska county, Iowa, and the father of Mrs. Miller erected one of the first flouring mills in that vicinity. In 1868, George Miller removed with his family to
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Linn county, Kansas, near the town of Pleasanton where he resided for several years engaged in farming. He now resides at Perry, Kansas, and is eighty-four years of age. Mrs. Elizabeth Miller died on October 3, 1914, aged seventy-four years. The three children of the Miller family are: Charles Miller, a grain dealer and shipper at Perry, Kansas; A. A., subject of this sketch; and Miss Mattie Miller.
The early education of A. A. Miller was obtained in the district school located in the neighborhood of his father's farm in Linn county, Kansas, and he also attended the public schools of Pleasanton, Kansas. He took up the study of telegraphy and was in the employ of the Fort Scott & Memphis railroad as telegraph operator and station agent until 1888. In that year he went to Kansas City, Missouri, and was engaged in the livestock commission business until 1905. He then located at Grainfield, Kansas, where he became connected with a ranch and livestock raising proposition in which he is still interested. After his marriage in 1911, he took up his residence in Bates county, Missouri and is now managing the large farm of six hundred fifty-seven acres located in the northwestern part of Mound township. Besides the hand- some residence of fourteen rooms occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Miller, the place has three sets of tenant houses and four large barns.
Mr. Miller was married in 1911 to Jessie Cooley, a daughter of George Falloon, deceased, concerning whom an extended biography appears elsewhere in this volume. By a former marriage, Mr. Miller has three sons: Charles Porter, Harry, and George, all of whom are serving in the National Army. Charles Porter has been in training at Camp Lewis, Washington, Headquarters No. 362. By a former mar- riage, Mrs. Miller has a daughter, Susan Falloon Cooley. Mr. Miller has always been a stanch Democrat and is fraternally affiliated with the · Knights of Pythias.
Lucien Green, a son of Stephen W. and Lucy Green, was born in Athens county, Ohio, July 10, 1844. He was a private in Company A, One Hundred Twenty-ninth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He enlisted in July, 1863 and was mustered out with the regiment at the expiration of his term of enlistment in March, 1864. He was married to Polly Smith in August, 1868. In January, 1874, he with wife and son, A. C. Green, came to Bates county, Missouri, and for a few years resided on a farm near Butler. In January, 1882. he with his family moved to Hudson township, where he now resides. Mr. Green is a Republican in politics and in 1894 was candidate for county recorder.
,
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Meglasson Family .- Among those families who came to Bates county early after the Civil War and settled in that locality known as Harmony Mission, were Mr. and Mrs. W. T. Meglasson and two small sons, Benjamin, and Conn, who, together with three other children, Eliza, Flora, and Walter, who were born here, all grew up on the farm settled by their parents.
Mrs. Meglasson died early in life, leaving the husband and father to be both father and mother to their five little ones, which duty was sacredly lived up to until the day of his death. This worthy couple now rest side by side in Mount Hebron cemetery at Mayview, Missouri.
Of their five children, Ben, the eldest, preceded the father in death many years ago, and in his departure there went out a life that gave promise of being a beautiful and useful one. Conn and his family. together with Eliza, now Mrs. W. R. Green, now live at Kuna, Idaho. Flora is unmarried and lives in Chicago. Walter, the youngest is married and lives at St. Ignatius, Montana.
Eliza Meglasson, now Mrs. W. R. Green, was a teacher in Bates county and taught in the Butler schools several years. She then taught in Colorado and was recognized as a faithful, competent, successful teacher. Walter Meglasson was for a number of years in the govern- ment service in Washington and later held a responsible government position at Fort Peck. He was afterward transferred to the Blackfeet Indian Reservation and only recently quit public service and is now engaged in the mercantile business at St. Ignatius, Montana. Mr. and Mrs. W. T. Meglasson were cultured people and their children are an honor to the memory of their parents. The passing of this family out of Bates county is only one of the many changes wrought in a little over half a century.
Judge Francis M. Steele, a late prominent citizen of Bates county, an ex-judge of the county court of Bates county, was one of the lead- ing and most influential citizens of this county. Mr. Steele was born in Callaway county, Missouri, December 21, 1833. His father was Hardin Steele, a native of Kentucky, and his mother was Minnie Ann Howell before her marriage. Hardin Steele came to Missouri in 1827 and was one of the early pioneer settlers in Callaway county, where he resided until 1836 when he took up his residence in Jackson county. F. M. Steele was reared in Jackson county and learned the trade of carpenter and builder which he followed for some years in Kansas City. In 1857 he came to Bates county and was engaged in working at his trade until after the Civil War. In the fall of 1869 he located
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on a farm in Hudson township and became owner of three hundred sixty acres of excellent farm land which he developed and improved. In 1878 he was elected justice of the peace in Hudson township and in 1880 he was elected a judge of the county court, positions which he ably filled to the satisfaction of the people of the county. Mr. Steele resided on his farm until the year 1886 when he and Mrs. Steele took utp their residence in Butler and Judge Steele served as deputy sheriff under Sheriff Colyer, for four years. He maintained his residence in Butler until his death.
December 12, 1860, Francis M. Steele and Rebecca W. Myers were united in marriage, the Reverend Horn, of Johnstown, Missouri, offi- ciating at the altar. Rebecca W. (Myers) Steele was born July 2, 1841 at Evansville, Indiana, a daughter of John D. and Mary M. (Hall) Myers, both of whom were natives of Virginia. John D. Myers came with his family from Indiana to Missouri in 1845 and they located on a farm in Hudson township, Bates county, on a tract of land compris- ing three hundred sixty acres which Mr. Myers entered from the government for two dollars an acre. He built their cabin home and spent many years improving the place and in general farming and stock raising. John D. Myers was a gentleman of much intelligence and ability. He served as county judge of the Bates county court for many years and as registrar of deeds in the first years following the Civil War. Mr. Myers enlisted in the Union army during the Civil War and served under Captain Donnohue. After the war had ended, John D. Myers located at Butler, later removing to Appleton City, where he died in 1876. Interment was made in Pleasant Ridge ceme- tery. Mary M. (Hall) Myers had preceded her husband in death many years. She died in 1849 and her remains were laid to rest in Pleasant Ridge cemetery. Mrs. Rebecca W. ( Myers) Steele has one sister liv- ing, Mrs. Susan Snodgrass, Spokane, Washington. Mrs. Steele recalls her first teacher, "Uncle Peter" Stratton, a gentleman of strong south- ern sentiments employed in teaching the young people of the southeast corner of Hudson township in the days prior to the outbreak of the Civil War, who, in 1861, went south and never again returned to Mis- souri. Her last teacher was Miss Margaret Lutsenhizer, who is now deceased. Mrs. Steele states that she is a "graduate" of the old Willow Branch school in Hudson township. Henry Myers, the present United States senator from Montana, is a nephew of John D. Myers, the father of Mrs. Rebecca W. (Myers) Steele. To Francis M. and Rebecca W.
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Steele were born five sons: Emmett A., a prosperous hardware merch- ant of Parker, Linn county, Kansas; Robert E., of Piedmont, Okla- homa ; Charles Bruce, of Lamar, Colorado; John H., of Kansas City, Missouri; and Arthur F., of Fort Laramie, Wyoming. All these sons are doing well in life and each is admirably maintaining the splendid reputation established by his father and the name Steele is the synonym of honesty, honor, and moral rectitude wherever it is known, whether it be in Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, or Wyoming. The father died at Butler January 28, 1917, and interment was made in Oak Hill cemetery.
When the Civil War broke out in 1861, on account of "Order Number 11," in 1863, Francis M. Steele moved with his family to Pettis county, Missouri and there remained until the conflict had closed. When they left their home, the Steeles put all their household possessions of value in a wagon drawn by oxen, leaving only the house and lot located in the southern part of Butler. When they returned, the lot only was left. Mrs. Steele is an eyewitness of the two burnings of Butler, one by the Union men and the other by the Confederates. Francis M. Steele took an active and interested part in public and political affairs and for several years was a judge of the county court and later the deputy sheriff during the administration of Sheriff Colyer. As an official, citizen, gentleman, Francis M. Steele established a record far above reproach and he was widely known in Bates county as a man of honorable dealings, upright conduct, and strict integrity, command- ing the respect and esteem of his acquaintances and neighbors to an unlimited degree. Although he has passed from the scenes of his earthly labors into "that mysterious realm where each shall take his chamber," Francis M. Steele still lives in the memory and affection of the people of Bates county. His widow, Mrs. Rebecca M. (Myers) Steele, one of Missouri's pioneer women, still survives her husband and now at the age of seventy-five years is as active physically and mentally as many women a score of years her junior. Mrs. Steele enjoys recalling the days gone by, the happy times of her girlhood and early womanhood spent on the prairies of Bates county and in the city of Butler, and she has attracted to herself a large circle of friends who admire and respect her for her sterling worth.
James K. Hodges, an honored pioneer of East Boone township, Bates county, Missouri, is a native of Illinois. Mr. Hodges was born in 1844, a son of Joseph and Eliza Hodges. Joseph Hodges was a son
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of Seth Hodges, a native of Tennessee. James K. Hodges is one of six children, born to his parents, four of whom are now living, namely; John, Drexel, Missouri; James, the subject of this review; Joseph, Leavenworth, Kansas; and William, Lees Summit, Missouri.
The marriage of James K. Hodges and Jemima Walker, a dauglı- ter of George B. and Mary A. Walker, who settled in East Boone town- ship, Bates county, Missouri in 1870, was solemnized in 1867. To this union have been born nine children, six of whom are now living : Charles M., deceased ; James Ira, deceased; Mrs. Mary A. Lacy, Merwin, Mis- souri; Mrs. Georgia M. Miller, Wichita, Kansas; Mrs. Pearl Frazier, Adrian, Missouri; John E., deceased; Thomas R., Weldon, California ; C. R., who resides in Canada ; and Mrs. Alberta Riley, Drexel, Missouri. Mrs. Hodges is a highly esteemed member of the Baptist church.
Nearly a half century ago, Mr. Hodges settled in Bates county, Missouri and he has a vivid recollection of the appearance and condi- tion of the country at that time. He states that the land was prac- tically all open prairie, that one might drive from his home to Butler, a distance of twenty-two miles, and not pass a lane, that pasture land was open and free, and prairie fires often lighted the night until it was as bright as day. In those early days, large herds of Texas cattle were brought to Missouri for pasturage. Wild game might be found in abundance and easily trapped or shot. James K. Hodges was an expert huntsman in his youth and has killed as many as seven prairie chickens at one shot. The first home of the Hodges family was a rude log-cabin, made from logs cut by Mr. Hodges himself and finished with lumber brought from Pleasant Hill. Mr. Hodges recalls that Green Valley school house was erected in 1870 and that Miss Park was employed as the first "school mistress" there. The children of James K. and Jemima Hodges later attended school at Green Valley school house. Reverend Evans and Reverend Smiley were pioneer preachers, to whom Mr. and Mrs. Hodges frequently listened, and in the early days they conducted religious services in the homes of the settlers.
Mr. Hodges purchased a small tract of land, when he came to Bates county, and to his original holdings he has since added until he is now the owner of a farm comprising one hundred twenty acres of land. Until the past two years, he was engaged in raising high grade cattle and Poland China hogs, but Mr. and Mrs. Hodges now rent their farm and are spending the eventide of life in quiet retirement. They have
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both worked long and hard and well deserve the ample competence which they are now enjoying, and though it is no longer absolutely necessary that either toil, they find much pleasure in attending to their cows, pigs, and chickens.
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