USA > Missouri > Bates County > History of Bates County, Missouri > Part 78
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
Politically, Mr. Hodges is a member of the Democratic party. Mr. Hodges is a Democrat, but he served one and one-half years in the army under General Sherman and was with him on the march through Georgia and was in the battle of Allatoona Pass. In his prime, he was a man of great endurance, strong, vigorous, and alert in body and mind, a splendid type of symetrically developed manhood and by temperance in all things and healthful exercise out-of-doors, he has conserved his energies and prolonged his life past the allotted three score years and ten. His past record has been an honorable one and his honesty and integrity have always been far above reproach. James K. and Mrs. Hodges will bequeath to their descendants a good name, that which is "rather to be chosen than great riches."
R. H. Rush .- The present is an era of specialization in agriculture as well as in the industrial world. The intelligent farmer who pursues a definite course as a specialist and studies the science of animal hus- bandry, is practically certain of success and can avoid many of the pit- falls which await those who refuse to progress along the lines laid down by modern research. The farmstead of R. H. Rush, located in Mound township, on the Jefferson highway just one mile south of Adrian and nine miles north of Butler, is a model of its kind, and is noted for the fact that the cattle, hogs, and poultry produced on the place in large numbers are absolutely purebred, and the owner of this fine place intends to adhere to the definite policy of having none but purebred livestock on the Rush farm. R. H. Rush, owner of two hundredl forty-three acres of splendid Bates county land, was born near Martin- town, Greene county, Wisconsin, May 24, 1857, a son of Henry and Nancy Hannah (Warren) Rush.
Henry Rush, his father, was born in Bavaria, German Empire, in 1823 and was brought to America by his parents in 1827. During the long passage across the Atlantic by sailing vessel, his mother died, and one year after the arrival of the father and children in this country, the father died. Henry Rush was thus left an orphan at the tender age of five years and was reared to young manhood by kind strangers in Seneca county, Ohio. During the Mexican War he served his country on the battlefields of the Southern republic from 1846 to 1848. In reward
R. H. RUSH AND WIFE.
797
HISTORY OF BATES COUNTY
for his services he received a grant of government land in Wisconsin, located in Greene county, the original land plat patent for which hav- ing been signed by President Franklin Pierce. He cleared a splendid farm from the Wisconsin wilderness and became well-to-do, being owner of five hundred acres of well improved farm lands prior to his death. He died in 1913 at the great age of ninety-three years. His wife died in 1858 when the subject of this review was aged but one year. There were three children born to Henry and Nancy Ann Rush, namely ; Lucetta, who married Willis Breon, and lives in Juneau county, Wiscon- sin; Nancy Jane, wife of J J. Parker, lives on part of the old home place in Wisconsin. Nancy Hannah (Warren) Rush was born in Seneca county, Ohio and was a descendant of the Warren family of Revolution- ary fame, of which General Warren, the hero of Bunker Hill, was a member. The Warren family is one of the oldest and most distinguished in the annals of American history, an extensive genealogy of whom is in existence and is kept up to date by the members of this noted family.
R. H. Rush was reared and educated in Greene county, Wiscon- sin and followed farming pursuits in his native state until 1900, when he went to Iowa, purchased a farm and lived on it three years, or until 1903, when he came to Bates county, Missouri, having in 1902 invested in his farm of two hundred forty-three acres of land in Mound township which is considered to be one of the finest and most produc- tive country places in this section of Missouri. Mr. Rush is engaged in the breeding of Hereford cattle of the thoroughbred variety, and raises purebred Poland China hogs. He has a fine drove of purebred Shropshire sheep and Mrs. Rush has charge of the pens of thorough- bred Barred Rock chickens which are the pride of the farm.
On January 1, 1881, Mr. Rush was united in marriage with Bessie Anne Robinson, a native of Greene county, Wisconsin, who at the time of her marriage was living in Independence, Iowa. Her parents, Charles and Mary (Wright) Robinson, were born and reared in England, and upon immigrating to America, first settled in Wisconsin on May 24, 1857, later moving to Iowa, where both parents died. To Mr. and Mrs. Rush have been born five children: Charles, farmer and stockman, living near Passaic, Bates county ; Cora May, at home with her parents; Dora B., wife of J. W. Moore, a farmer of Bates county; Ruth, wife of Mack Hawkins, Bates county; Fay Ralph, who is operating the home farm in partnership with his father.
798
HISTORY OF BATES COUNTY
Politically, Mr. Rush is a Democrat. He became a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons in Wisconsin several years ago and has attained the Royal Arch degree of Masonry. Mr. and Mrs. Rush are well known and highly esteemed in their section of Bates county and are looked upon as valuable additions to the citizenry of this county, being progressive and enterprising and ever ready to do their part in bettering conditions in their adopted county and state.
Sam Walls, one of Adrian's leading and most prominent citizens, chairman of the city council of Adrian, a member of the Jefferson High- way Commission, one of the organizers and a present member of the directorates of the First National Bank of Adrian, Missouri and of the Denton-Coleman Loan Company of Butler, Missouri, formerly a popu- lar manager of a Butler hotel, now a successful pharmacist of Adrian, is a native of Kentucky. Mr. Walls was born in 1861 in Carlisle, Ken- tucky, a son of Thomas and Sarah Walls. Both the paternal and maternal grandfathers of Sam Walls were prosperous plantation owners in Nicholas county, Kentucky.
When Sam Walls was a child, six years of age, his parents moved from Nicholas county, Kentucky to Georgetown, Vermilion county, Illinois. He attended school in Illinois until 1877, when he came with his parents to Bates county, Missouri and they settled on a farm located one and a half miles northwest of Butler. Sam Walls then attended the city schools of Butler until he had attained maturity. At that time, there was not a railroad in Bates county and he and his father engaged in freighting, working between Butler and Kansas City, Missouri. It required five days to make the trip and in the summers father and son would camp nights along the road, which was merely a miserable, uncared-for trail, frequently impassable. They could see far over the open prairie and often killed wild turkeys and prairie chickens. Thomas Walls died in 1903 and eight years later he was united in death with his wife. Mrs. Walls died in 1911. Thomas and Sarah Walls were the parents of nine children, six of whom are now living, namely: Mrs. Lydia Bagby, Kansas City, Missouri; Sam, the subject of this review; Mrs. Lizzie Grimm, Kansas City, Missouri; Thomas, Kansas City, Mis- souri; Mrs. Vertie Dudley, Fort Scott, Kansas; and Mrs. Stella Ham- mer, Kansas City, Missouri.
For several years, Sam Walls was engaged in farming and stock raising on his father's farm in Bates county. In 1884, he entered the mercantile business at Butler and until 1890 successfully and profitably
799
HISTORY OF BATES COUNTY
conducted a grocery store in this city, at which time he returned to agricultural pursuits and again resided at the old homestead for several years. Later, he returned to Butler and became associated with Dr. Lansdown in the hotel business at Butler, the two conducting the Arlington Hotel until 1897, when Mr. Walls purchased the Lansdown Drug Store at Adrian, where for the past twenty-one years he has been engaged in the drug business, carrying a splendid and complete line of drugs, paints, and sundries. Dr. Walls was not an inexperi- enced druggist at the time of his purchase of this store, for he had at one time owned a large pharmacy at Amsterdam, Missouri.
The marriage of Sam Walls and Mary L. Lansdown was solem- nized in June, 1887. Mary L. (Lansdown) Walls is a daughter of Dr. and Mrs. W. J. Lansdown, who settled at Butler, Missouri in 1876. Mrs. Walls is a native of Camden county, Missouri. The Walls resi- dence is located in Adrian and is one of the beautiful, modern homes of the city, an imposing structure of ten rooms surrounded by a nice, well-kept lawn. Both Mr. and Mrs. Walls are members and earnest supporters of the Methodist church.
Fraternally, Mr. Walls is affiliated with the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, the Knights of Pythias, the Modern Woodmen of · America, the Elks, the Mystic Workers of the World, and the Eastern Star lodges. He has been a life-long Democrat and always takes a keen and commendable interest in political matters and in elections. Since he has been a member of the city council of Adrian, forty miles of concrete walks have been laid in this city. He is an aggressive worker for internal improvements and, as a member of the Jefferson Highway Commission, is an enthusiastic "booster" of good roads. Sam Walls assisted in the organization of the First National Bank of Adrian, Missouri in 1913 and he is now a member of the board of directors and a stockholder of the bank. He also was one of the organizers of the Denton-Coleman Loan Company of Butler, Missouri, and is one of the present directors of that company.
Mr. Walls remembers well his first teacher in Bates county, Pro- fessor Schaffer, and a minister, to whom he often listened in his boy- hood days, Reverend Burgess. He knows full well the hardships and difficulties which beset the way of the young man who must make his own way, unaided, in the world. He has labored many ten-hour days for the mere pittance of fifty cents. Mr. Walls invested his first sav- ings in a calf. which investment proved to be a safe and profitable one.
-
800
HISTORY OF BATES COUNTY
Now, honored and respected by all his friends and acquaintances, Sam Walls occupies a conspicuous place and high standing among the best and most substantial citizens of Bates county, and none is more worthy of mention and commendation in a work of this character. Mr. Walls is one of the representative, public-spirited, "self-made" men of this part of Missouri.
T. W. Blount, a successful agriculturist of Deer Creek township, is one of the highly respected and valued citizens of Bates county, a member of one of the first and best pioneer families of this section of the state. Mr. Blount was born in Bates county in 1873, a son of Allen and Eliza J. Blount.
Allen Blount settled in Bates county, Missouri in the days before the Civil War and the remainder of his life was spent in the arduous toil necessary in the making of a home in a new and unsettled country, and toil it was in the fullest sense of the word, a never-ceasing round of work from early dawn until sundown. He cleared much land and devoted his life to farming and stock raising. Mr. Blount was the type of brave pioneer that took his life and future in his own hands and introduced civilization into the great West, exposing himself to hard- ships and perils of which the people of the present day can form no adequate conception, yet completing his life work like a hero, although his memory may never be commemorated in song or story. He was called upon to suffer more of the tragedies of pioneer life than fell to the lot of the ordinary pioneer and had more than one close call and narrow escape from a tragic death, yet he cheerfully endured all his heavy burdens and lived to a noble old age. Allen Blount was a skill- ful woodsman and hunter and he had abundant opportunities for the exercise of his prowess in life on the frontier. He used often to relate how he once stood in his wagon and from that vantage-point killed a fine specimen of deer. He used yokes of oxen in the work of breaking the virgin sod on his farm and in hauling supplies from Pleasant Hill. In an old "day-book," kept in the early days by one of the pioneer merchants of old Crescent Hill, are many entries made of articles sold to Allen Blount. His son, T. W., the subject of this review, has in his possession an old-fashioned staple taken from an ox-yoke which his father used to own.
To Allen and Eliza J. Blount were born seven children, four of whom are now living: J. W., Coffeyville, Kansas; E. M., Simmons, Arizona: T. W., the subject of this review; and Mable, who resides
80I
HISTORY OF BATES COUNTY
with her brother, T. W., at the Blount homestead near Adrian. The mother died in 1892. She was survived by her husband twenty-three years, when in 1915 they were united in death. Allen Blount was a man of wide acquaintance in Bates county, a gentleman of the old school, courteous, kindly, and charitable, whom to know was to esteem and honor. He was considered more conservative than progressive, still he was one of the first settlers to purchase a farm in Bates county, Missouri. In many respects, Allen Blount was worthy of the respect universally accorded him and of mention and commendation in a work of this character.
T. W. Blount attended school at Liberty school house in Deer Creek township, Bates county. His first instructor was A. J. Smith and he was succeeded by William Duncan and he, in turn, by Miss Amanda McGraw. Rev. Aaron Showalter had charge of the moral and religious welfare of the community, when T. W. Blount was a lad, and to the teachings of this pioneer preacher he has often listened. Mr. Blount recalls how, in his boyhood days, he was want to ride an old-style corn planter and drop the seed in the designated marks, for his father and their neighbors. His father told him how he used to ride a still more primitive machine made of wood, in his youth, and drop corn. Mr. Blount, Jr. has spent his entire life on the farm in Deer Creek town- ship, on the place which he now owns. The Blount homestead was given T. W. Blount by his father, who desired that his son should remain on the home place and care for his sister, Mable. Mr. Blount is profitably engaged in general farming and stock raising and this past season, of 1917, harvested three hundred bushels of oats and had twenty- five acres of the farm planted in corn.
In every community, there are always a few rare men who are unmistakably identified with the material growth and prosperity of the country, who are invariably stanch supporters of every worthy enter- prise which has for its object the advancement and betterment of their fellowmen, who are always alert and ready when called upon for assist- ance in enhancing the importance of their locality, yet who are so unobtrusive that the people in general hardly realize their importance, as their presence and value are not thrust upon them, the public only unconsciously feel their impress. Yet just as surely do they exert a wholesome influence in their respective communities. Such a one is T. W. Blount, who in a quiet, but forcible, way- has done and is still doing much to advance the interests of his home township and county.
(51)
802
HISTORY OF BATES COUNTY
He is numbered among the citizens of highest standing in Bates county and is a worthy son of a most worthy father.
T. W. Lightfoot, a prosperous and influential agriculturist and stockman of East Boone township, is a member of one of the early, leading families of Bates county, Missouri. Mr. Lightfoot is a native of Indiana. He was born in 1858 in Wells county, the only child of P. G. and Rebecca (Hunt) Lightfoot. P. G. Lightfoot was a son of William Lightfoot, a native of Kentucky and of Welsh and Irish descent. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Lightfoot, the parents of T. W., the subject of this review, was solemnized in Wayne county, Indi- ana and from Indiana the Lightfoot family came to Missouri in 1868 and settled on a farm in East Boone township. Mr. Lightfoot, Sr. pur- chased a tract of land embracing eighty acres, at the time of his com- ing West, and to his original holdings constantly added until he was the owner of a farm of one hundred twenty acres of land. He engaged in general farming to a certain extent, but devoted most of his time and attention to stock raising, specializing in Shorthorn cattle, buying large herds and feeding for the market. P. G. Lightfoot was a man of high moral principles, a devout member of the Baptist church, an inde- fatigable Christian worker. He organized a Baptist congregation, which met at his own home, and which afterward founded the Burdett Baptist church. He was many times honored by his church, being sent as messenger to various Baptist associations. Mr. and Mrs. Lightfoot are now deceased.
At Mudd school house in Bates county, T. W. Lightfoot attended school after his parents had moved here from Indiana. He began his educational career in Indiana and later attended school at McNeil school house. In addition to the teaching of "the three r's," preaching was frequently done at the school houses and among the pioneer preachers, whom Mr. Lightfoot knew well, were Reverends Lacy, J. W. Sage, Gwinn, Wright, Lewis, and Swift. The settlers from miles around came to church services in the early days. T. W. Lightfoot began life for himself engaged in farming and stock raising as he had always been interested in these pursuits and was reared on a farm. He remained on the home place with his parents as long as they lived. The first money he ever earned was made driving cattle and hogs to Pleasant Hill, Missouri for James Bufford. His first investment was a young colt, which proved, after much worry and many hours of anxi- ety, to be a very profitable one. Mr. Lightfoot is now owner of two
803
HISTORY OF BATES COUNTY
hundred acres of land and is profitably engaged in general farming and stock raising, having, at the time of this writing in 1917, forty-three head of Shorthorns, seventy-five head of Poland Chinas, two thousand bushels of corn, and six hundred bushels of oats. This past season of 1917, Mr. Lightfoot not only harvested the aforementioned grain, but had twenty-one acres of the place in wheat. He built a handsome resi- dence in 1904 and also one of the best barns in this part of the state. The Lightfoot place is one of the fine stock farms of East Boone town- ship, being well watered and conveniently located.
The marriage of T. W. Lightfoot and Annie Mudd, a daughter of Austin Mudd, one of Bates county's first, brave pioneers, was solem- nized in Bates county, Missouri. Both Mr. and Mrs. Lightfoot had long ago united with the Baptist church and she was one of the most beloved members of the church. Mrs. Lightfoot took a deep interest in church work and faithfully served for many years as organist and president of the Ladies' Aid Society. Mr. Lightfoot has been the trusted treasurer and trustee of his church for a long time. He has always remained true to the beautiful faith in which he was reared. Mrs. Lightfoot was ever her husband's most sympathetic counsellor, faith- ful companion, and tried and true friend and Mr. Lightfoot has never recovered from the blow which the Grim Reaper inflicted in taking her from him.
Politically, T. W. Lightfoot is affiliated with the Democratic party. In business, Mr. Lightfoot is a very practical man, possessing much force of character and excellent judgment and his career has been very satisfactory. As a citizen, he stands high above reproach, being widely known for his honest and honorable dealings, and he commands the unqualified respect and esteem of all his friends, neighbors, and acquaintances.
O. W. Stanfill, of Elkhart township, like a great number of success- ful Bates county citizens, began his career in this county without a dollar which he could call his own. He has, by tireless industry and decided ability coupled with good financial management during the thirty-two years of his residence on his farm in this county, accumit- lated a fine farm of two hundred acres with good improvements thereon. He was born in Bath county, Kentucky, February 14, 1857 and was a son of John and Jane (Rice) Stanfill, both of whom were born and reared in Kentucky. The family came to Missouri in 1858 and settled in Jackson county. The Stanfill farm in that county was destined to
804
HISTORY OF BATES COUNTY
become a historic spot inasmuch as the famous battle of Westport was fought on the very ground where the subject of this review was want to roam as a boy. After the Civil War, the Stanfills moved to Cass county, later locating in Bates county, Missouri where they made a permanent home. Mr. Stanfill resided in Bates county from 1875 until his death in 1888. The wife and mother died in 1891. Eight children were born to John and Jane Stanfill, three of whom are living: Mrs. Jackson Bennett, of Joplin: Letcher Stanfill, living in Pittsburg, Kan- sas; and O. W. Stanfill, subject of this review.
The boyhood days of O. W. Stanfill were spent in Jackson and Cass counties and his early young manhood was spent in Elkhart township. He has always followed farming as a life vocation and has resided at his present home since 1885. Upon his splendid farm of two hundred acres he carries on general farming and stock raising. producing average native cattle and hogs for the markets. Mr. Stan- fill was married on November 20, 1883 to Miss Virginia McGuire, who was born in Illinois, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William McGuire, of Jackson county, Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Stanfill have three children : May, wife of James Wilson, Amsterdam, Missouri; Annie, wife of Milton Reeves, of New Home township: Albert Freeman, residing in Elkhart township.
Mr. Stanfill has generally been allied with the Democratic party, though at one time he embraced the doctrines of the Peoples party and supported the principles of that party, for a time. He is one of the sterling, upright citizens of this county, one who has won a firm and substantial place among the great body of well-to-do citizens of the county.
William Baie, a prosperous and influential farmer and stockman of Deer Creek township, near Adrian, is one of the highly respected, "self- made" men of Bates county. Mr. Baie is a native of Illinois. He was born in 1860 in DeKalb county, a son of Christian, Jr. and Minnie Baie. Christian Baie, Jr. was a son of Christian Baie, Sr., who was born in Germany and came to America when he was a young man, eighteen years of age, and settled in Kane county, Illinois. The father of Will- iam Baie. Christian Baie, Jr., was a successful and well-to-do agricul- turist of DeKalb county, Illinois, owner of more than six hundred acres of land in DeKalb county. He died in 1907 and the widowed mother still makes her home in Illinois. To Christian, Jr. and Minnie Baie were born eleven children, all of whom have been reared to maturity and
٧٧٥٠.٠
WILLIAM BAIE.
805
HISTORY OF PATES COUNTY
are now living: Henry, Adrian, Missouri; William, the subject of this review; Herman, Hinckley, Illinois; Mrs. Lena Marsh, Hinckley, Illi- nois; August, Waterman, Illinois; Mrs. Amelia Troeger, Hinckley, Illinois ; Louis, Hinckley, Illinois; Mrs. Minnie Remsneider, Hinckley, Illinois; Mrs. Ida Walgrin, who resides in Pierce township, DeKalb county, Illinois ; Carl, Waterman, Illinois; and Mrs. Ada Remsneider, Hinckley, Illinois. 'Mrs. Minnie Baie died February 15, 1918.
In 1887, William Baie came from Illinois to Missouri and settled on a tract of land located near Adrian, a farm comprising two hundred acres, to which he has constantly added until at one time he was owner of three hundred seventy-three acres of choice land in Bates county, but he has recently sold eighty-three acres of his place to his son, Roy. Mr. Baie began life in Missouri under very discouraging conditions, being in debt and having ill-fortune in raising crops for the first few years. He had a very hard time to get a start in the new Western home, but by unflagging industry, perseverance, and tenacious endeavor, Mr. Baie has prospered and is now the owner of one of the attractive country places in his township. He has remodeled the residence, has built a large barn and several smaller barns, and has added implement sheds and other necessary farm buildings on his place and is now well equipped to handle large herds of stock and amounts of grain and hay. Mr. Baie keeps a nice herd of Shorthorn cattle and forty head of Poland China hogs. This past season, of 1917, he harvested two thousand bushels of oats and more than one hundred tons of hay and in addition had fifty- seven acres of the farm in corn, which yielded an average of forty bushels to the acre. He is a most progressive farmer and is an advocate of crop rotation and the constant use of the manure spreader. In former years, William Baie operated a steam thresher and corn sheller for many years in this vicinity and was very successful in this line of work.
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.