USA > Missouri > Bates County > History of Bates County, Missouri > Part 83
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In 1910, the marriage of Alonzo Dixon and Ora Jones was solemnized. Ora (Jones) Dixon is a daughter of Andrew and Sarah E. Jones, of Mount Pleasant township. Mrs. Dixon is a native of Bates county. Andrew Jones died in 1902 and his widow makes her home with Mr. and Mrs. Alonzo Dixon. To Alonzo and Ora Dixon has been born one child, a son, Alonzo Lee. Mr. Dixon has one son by a former wife, Lewis Dixon, now bookkeeper with the American Express Company at Kansas City, Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Dixon are excellent citizens, good. quiet, and unobtrusive people, and they are held in the highest esteem in their community.
Reinhold A. Julien, of West Point township, during his thirteen years of residence in Bates county, has made a remarkable success as an agriculturist. However, he comes of a race of people who are noted for their aptitude in tilling the most stubborn of soils and it is a fact that wherever you find a settlement of American farmers of Swedish birth or descent, there you find prosperity and success attending their efforts. When Mr. Julien came to Bates county from Nebraska he was told that "he would starve to death in Missouri." He was in search of cheaper land than could be purchased in Nebraska. His first quarter section purchased in 1904 has since been increased to a total of two hun- dred eighty acres. Mr. and Mrs. Julien have a splendid farm resi- dence which is furnished and equipped in keeping with refined tastes. His large barn, which has been erected recently, is forty-eight by fifty- four feet in dimensions and he has also built a silo having a capacity of one hundred tons of silage. Mr. Julien has a herd of fifty-three head of cattle of the Shorthorn breed, including eight milch cows. Each year he raises from one to two carloads of hogs for the market.
Mr. Julien was born in Sweden in 1868 and is a son of Anderson and Louisa (Engborn) Julien, who lived all their days in their native land. In 1888, Mr. Julien immigrated to America, a poor lad, in search of employment and joined his brother, John Julien, who was located in Iowa. He was so poor on his arrival that he had to repay his borrowed passage money across the ocean by the fruits of his first month's labor
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RESIDENCE OF REINHOLD A. JULIEN.
BARN OF REINHOLD A. JULIEN.
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in America. In 1890, he went to Nebraska and worked for some time among fellow countrymen in Saunders county, Nebraska. For a period of eleven years he tilled rented land in Saunders county, Nebraska with a view to the ultimate purchase of a farm. Meanwhile land had been constantly advancing in price in Nebraska and he believed that the price was entirely too high. He cast about for a suitable location where land was not too high in price and within his power of purchase. Deciding upon Bates county against the advice of friends and advisers he came here in February, 1904, and made his first purchase of one hundred sixty acres of land in West Point township at a cost of forty-five dol- lars an acre. In 1906 he bought forty acres at a cost of thirty-five dollars an acre and later bought an "eighty" at a cost of forty dollars an acre. His record since coming to Bates county shows what industry, perseverance, and careful methods of farming can accomplish on Bates county soil.
Mr .. Julien was married in February, 1898, in Saunders county, Nebraska, to Miss Amanda Frostrom, who was born at Weston, Nebraska, February 13, 1877, a daughter of C. J. and Christina Fros- trom, natives of Sweden, who immigrated to America and settled in Nebraska and became prosperous and well-to-do in the land of their adoption. C. J. Frostrom came to this country in 1869 and his wife, Christina, migrated to America in 1873. They were married in Sweden, have reared a fine family of children and are now living in comfortable circumstances at Weston, Saunders county, Nebraska. To Reinhold and Amanda Julien have been born two children as follow: Ethel, born May 15, 1899; Ernest, born February 24, 1902. Mr. Julien attributes much of his success to the assistance of his intelligent and capable help- meet.
Mr. Julien is a Democrat in politics but is content to leave the management of political matters to others who have more time and the inclination to devote to such matters. He and his family are members of the Baptist church. While he is not a member of any secret society he carries fraternal insurance as a safeguard against disaster, thus pro- viding for the future of his family. Mr. and Mrs. Julien have made many friends during their residence in Bates county and have the respect and esteem of their many acquaintances. The record which they have made in Bates county place them in the front rank of Bates county citizens of the better and more successful class.
George H. Frank, one of the best-known citizens of Bates county,
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Missouri, a former hotel man of Butler, is a prosperous and influential farmer and stockman of Mount Pleasant township. Mr. Frank is a native of Carlinville, Illinois. He was born in 1852, a son of A. J. and Mary Eliza Frank, the former, a native of South Carolina and the latter, of Kentucky. A. J. Frank was a blacksmith by trade and he followed his vocation at Carlinville for many years. Later in life, Mr. Frank became interested in horse racing and track meets and attended all the races held in his state of Illinois with his own horses. He always kept from ten to fifteen racing horses in his stables and many of them made records known throughout the country.
George H. Frank, when a small boy, was drummerboy at the barracks at Carlinville, his principal duties being to call the soldiers in the mornings and sound "taps" in the evenings. Mr. Frank was edu- cated at Blackburn Seminary in Illinois. He was a mere child, thirteen years of age, when he was first employed by his father as jockey. Since he was seventeen years of age, Mr. Frank has been self-supporting. He rode "Prairie Boy" at Springfield, Illinois, at the time he won the world record in 1:44. Although Mr. Frank was an experienced jockey and is an exceptional judge and lover of fine horses, he never bets on a race.
In 1880. Mr. Frank came to Bates county, Missouri, and located at Butler, where he followed painting for two years and then operated a bus line for twelve years. Following this, George H. Frank conducted the Ross Hotel in Butler, which house was situated in the building now occupied by the American Clothing House. He enjoyed the hotel busi- ness, worked hard, and made a success of it. When Mr. Frank was a genial host, it was in the days before the quitting of the saloon. Butler was "booming" at the time he came here. Traveling men, who were on the road fifteen and twenty-five years ago, recall with pleasure the Ross Hotel of Butler and the kindly keeper, George H. Frank, who made their stay as pleasant and home-like as possible. When the house was sold, Mr. Frank purchased his present country home, a farm comprising sixty acres of valuable land located four miles southwest of Butler, which place was formerly owned by "Bob" Hurt. Mr. Frank is enjoying his rural home and is "making good" on his little farm, finding as much pleasure in agricultural pursuits perhaps as he did in the hotel business in Butler.
October 27. 1875. George H. Frank and Miss Belle Compton. of Brighton, Illinois, were united in marriage. Mrs. Frank is a daughter
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of Richard and Emily Compton, both of whom are now deceased. To George H. and Belle Frank have been born three children: Emma, the wife of John W. McKinick, Kansas City, Missouri ; Charles, a prosperous farmer of Mount Pleasant township; and Richard, a well-to-do clothing merchant of Chicago, Illinois.
Since becoming a resident of Bates county, Mr. Frank has willingly and cheerfully borne his part in all public improvements and enterprises and his high standing as one of Mount Pleasant township's intelligent, progressive and representative citizens is unanimously conceded. He has an extensive acquaintance throughout the country and the number of his warm personal friends is legion.
W. S. Fuller, a successful and industrious agriculturist of Mount Pleasant township, is a native of Jasper county, Missouri. Mr. Fuller was born in 1880 at the Fuller homestead in Jasper county, thirty-four years after the birth of his father at the homestead. He is a son of S. W. and Laura J. (Allen) Fuller. S. W. Fuller was born in 1846, a son of John L. Fuller, a native of Webster county, Missouri. John L. Fuller was a Confederate soldier in the Civil War, as was also his son, S. W., and he was killed in a battle in Arkansas. S. W. Fuller served in the Confederate army two years. Louisa J. (Allen) Fuller was born in South Carolina. She came to Bates county with Mr. Fuller in 1903 and they purchased the farm now owned by Mr. Hartrick. Mr. Fuller died at Eldorado Springs in 1906 and interment was made at Carthage, Jasper county, Missouri. His widow now resides at Carthage, Missouri. S. W. and Laura J. Fuller were the parents of ten children, six of whom are now living: W. S., the subject of this review: Sinia, the wife of H. G. Mallet, Lamar, Missouri; Blanche E., Carthage, Missouri; Mrs. Mabel Lowry, Lamar, Missouri; Mrs. Ethel Cox, Butler, Missouri; and Mrs. Sammie Shay, Fort Bliss, Texas.
W. S. Fuller attended school in Jasper county, Missouri, at Carth- age. He has made his own way in life since he was eighteen years of age, engaging first in mining in Jasper county and later in agricultural pursuits. Mr. Fuller came to Bates county with his father and labored on the farm with him. In 1910. he purchased his present country home. a farm located two miles southwest of Butler on the Jefferson Highway and comprising one hundred forty acres of land, well watered, drained. and fertile. The residence is a neat, well-built structure of seven rooms and there are two large barns on the place, which afford ample room for stock, hay, and grain.
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HISTORY OF BATES COUNTY
The marriage of W. S. Fuller and Mrs. Edith (Dickhout) Flynn was solemnized in October, 1909, at Butler, Missouri. Mrs. Fuller is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. P. S. Dickhout, of Jackson county, Missouri. To W. S. and Edith Fuller have been born two children, Samuel and Garland.
Fraternally, Mr. Fuller is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America. He has pursued an undeviating course of industry thus far in life and has sternly adhered to the upright principles which governed the life of his father before him. W. S. and Mrs. Fuller are highly respected and esteemed as neighbors and citizens in their community. Constant and faithful in all his relations with his fellowmen, Mr. Fuller is destined to continue in the future, as he has been in the past. one of the substantial, enter- prising men of the township in which he lives.
John F. McKissick, a well-known and respected farmer and stock- man of Mount Pleasant township, is a worthy representative of a promi- nent and sterling pioneer family of Missouri. Mr. McKissick was born at the McKissick homestead, five miles southwest of Butler, Missouri, a son of George M. and Mary E. (Benson) McKissick. George M. McKissick was born in 1838 in Clay county, Missouri, a son of John McKissick, who moved to Bates county from Clay county before the Civil War. John McKissick purchased the farm upon which his son, George M., settled after the war had ended. The latter built a small brick house. 14 x 16 feet in dimensions, which was the McKissick home for many years and is still standing on the place. To George M. and Mary E. McKissick were born seven children: Mrs. Elizabeth J. Blount, Butler, Missouri; Jonathan L., and Charles A., who died in infancy; one child died at birth; Mrs. Martha Pickett, Platteville, Colo- rado; George. Bowler, Montana ; and John F., the subject of this review. Jonathan McKissick, brother of George M., came from Clay county to Butler, Missouri, in 1887 and was engaged in the mercantile business in this city for several years. There are hundreds of men and women who will recall Jonathan McKissick, who knew him personally and well, who patronized him at his general store, where he sold groceries, hardware, and feed. He was a valued member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Butler. Mrs. Jonathan McKissick was an active worker and devout member of the Christian church. Interment was made for Mr. McKissick, merchant and enterprising citizen, in the cemetery at But- ler. George M. McKissick was also affiliated with the Ancient Free
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and Accepted Masons of Butler, Missouri. He was for several years the Grand Master of the Butler lodge. Mr. McKissick was a member of the Presbyterian church and Mrs. McKissick was a member of the Baptist church. She was a native of Tennessee. George M. McKis- sick was a man of excellent repute and much influence in his community, taking a deep interest in public and political affairs. He served several years as justice of the peace in his township. He died in 1913 and two years later, in March, 1915, he was joined in death by his wife. Both father and mother were laid to rest in Morris cemetery.
John F. McKissick received his education in the city schools of Butler, Missouri. At the age of twenty-one years, he began farming and stock raising on the home place and these pursuits he has since con- stantly followed. Mr. McKissick is the present owner of one hundred twenty acres of land in section 32, Mount Pleasant township, which is considered one of the best "bottom farmns" in Bates county. The McKis- sick residence is a pleasant cottage of five rooms. A commodious barn, 44 x 38 feet in dimensions, affords ample provision for the care of both stock and grain. The buildings are all situated on upland.
The marriage of John F. McKissick and Lutie May Leonard, daugh- ter of John E. and Mary (Tucker) Leonard, formerly of Charlotte township but now residents of Mt. Pleasant, was solemnized in August, 1910. To this union have been born four children: John Howard, Mary Katherine, Robert L., and Edward L. Mr. and Mrs. McKissick are sincere and highly respected members of the New Hope Baptist church.
Incomplete would be a biographical compendium of Bates county, Missouri, were no mention made of the McKissicks, whose lives for so many years have been interwoven with the local history of Butler and vicinity. For many long years, George M. McKissick was an important and forceful factor in the development of Mount Pleasant township and he always took a leading part in the affairs of his community. Jonathan McKissick, a business man of strong and vigorous personality, devoted his time and energies to the upbuilding of the commercial interests of Butler. Although John F. McKissick is still a young man. he is ably maintaining the reputation of the family and his career has so far been marked by well-directed energy, strong determination to suc- ceed, and honest, honorable endeavor. A public-spirited citizen, an intelligent, capable agriculturist, a kind neighbor and friend, Mr. McKissick is undoubtedly a true son of a noble pioneer.
Charles Henry. proprietor of the Butler Dairy, is a representative (54)
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of one of the oldest and best pioneer families of Bates county, Missouri. Mr. Henry is a Bates county boy. He was born in this section of Mis- souri in 1878, a son of E. P. and Gertrude (Garrison) Henry, the former, a native of Ohio and the latter, of Wisconsin. Mr. and Mrs. E. P. Henry were the parents of the following children: Alice, the wife of Dr. J. T. Hull, Butler, Missouri: Bertha, the widow of Judge J. S. Francesco, Butler, Missouri: Charles, the subject of this review ; Walter, who is engaged in the garage business at Butler, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this volume; and Emma Dell, who died at the age of five years. The Henrys came to Bates county, Missouri, about 1868 or 1869 and settled on the farm now owned by the son, Charles. E. P. Henry died in 1889 and Mrs. Henry joined him in death in 1914. Both parents are interred in Oak Hill cemetery near Butler. A more detailed account of E. P. Henry, familiarly known as Captain Henry, one of the late leading citizens of Bates county, appears in connection with the biographical review of Walter, a brother of Charles Henry.
Mr. Henry, whose name introduces this sketch, attended the city schools of Butler and, later, Detroit Business University. A few years after he had completed his commercial education, the Spanish Ameri- can War broke out and Mr. Henry enlisted at Butler in the service of the United States. He served one year and was mustered out and honorably discharged. He returned home and began farming, in which pursuit he was engaged until he entered the dairy business in 1914.
The Butler Dairy was established by James Wells. He sold to C. S. Douglass, from whom Charles Henry obtained the dairy in 1917. Mr. Henry had, however. been engaged in the dairy business for three years previous to purchasing this business establishment, at his present location adjoining the townsite of Butler. Two hundred thirteen acres of land comprise the Henry dairy farm, the old E. P. Henry homestead. Mr. Henry raises all the feed he needs for his herd of forty-five dairy cows and besides leaves eighty acres of the farm in pasture. He has two silos, each having a capacity of two hundred fifty tons. The Butler Dairy is one of the best, most sanitary, and splendidly equipped in the country. In addition to a washer, sterilizer, and milk cooler. all operated by steam, Mr. Henry is installing a bottling machine, which fills four bottles at a time and having a capacity of five hundred bottles an hour. Thus practically all the work of the dairy is done speedily, efficiently, and in the most approved and sanitary manner. The water used in connection with the dairy comes from a well of great depth and is pure.
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Mr. Henry caters to the family and hotel trade and he is doing an excel- lent and profitable business. The dairy barn on the farm was rebuilt and improved in 1917 and now contains forty-seven stanchions and concrete floors and is kept scrupulously clean.
The marriage of Charles Henry and Gertrude Guyant, of Butler, Missouri, was solemnized in 1910. Mrs. Henry is a daughter of J. M. and Mary (Young) Guyant. Mrs. Guyant is now deceased and Mr. Guyant resides at Butler. To Charles and Gertrude Henry have been born two sons : Charles E., Jr., and Fred. Mr. Guyant resides with Mr. and Mrs. Henry.
Aside from his business interests, Charles Henry takes a deep inter- est in all matters pertaining to the welfare of the community. He is one of the energetic, progressive men, who are doing so much to keep Bates county in the front rank with the most prosperous counties of Missouri. Willingly and cheerfully, Mr. Henry lends his support to every worthy enterprise which has for its object the promotion of the interests of Butler and Bates county and the elevation of the standards of citizenship. He is a worthy son of a good father, an excellent repre- sentative of a long line of eminently honorable ancestors.
Grover C. Ireland, a progressive and energetic young farmer and stockman, is one of Bates county's worthy citizens. Mr. Ireland was born at the Ireland homestead in Spruce township, Bates county, Sep- tember 9, 1887, a son of Benjamin and Callie (Harmon) Ireland, pio- neers of Spruce township, a sketch of whom appears in this volume.
In the district schools of Spruce township, Bates county, Grover C. Ireland obtained a good common-school education. At the age of twenty-one years, Mr. Ireland with a mule-team began farming on land five miles northeast of Butler. He purchased eighty acres in January, 1918, and forty acres additional in March, 1918, now owning one hundred twenty acres of valuable land. He has leased two hundred forty acres of the Scully land, one mile east of Ballard, Missouri. At the time of this writing in 1918, Mr. Ireland has on his farm twenty head of Shropshire sheep: thirty-two head of high-grade white-face cattle, all cows, with the exception of a registered male at the head of the herd; thirty head of Duroc Jersey hogs, two being registered sows, one costing ninety-one dollars, the other eighty-six dollars ; twelve head of horses, one a registered stallion, "Tam O'Shanter," two years old, from Jacob Baum's herd, and six brood mares; and three head of mules. Mr. Ireland has some very excellent views on stock
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raising and it is his opinion that keeping poor-grade stock on any farm doesn't pay and he is giving a practical demonstration of the truth of the converse.
In February, 1909, Grover C. Ireland and Lillian Nina Speers, of Spruce township, a daughter of William and Dolly Speers and a grand- daughter of "Uncle James" Speers, a widely-known resident of Johns- town, Missouri, who came to Bates county in 1859 and located at Johns- town and is still living there, were united in marriage. To this union have been born three children: Harland, Letha, and Donald. Mr. and Mrs. Ireland reside one and a half miles northeast of Ballard, Missouri, and they receive their mail on Rural Route 26 from Urich, Missouri. They are highly respected and esteemed in Spruce township and in Bates county, and the number of their friends is myriad. Mr. Ireland is carving a name for himself and has now established a reputation which might well be emulated by many citizens much older than he. He is one of the successful Bates county boys of whom all are justly proud.
August Fischer .- The "Fischer Farm," located two and a half miles south of the village of Pleasant Gap in the township of the same name, is one of the best and most productive in Bates county. The house and buildings are well located upon a sloping hillside from which every acre of the farm can be overlooked-an ideal setting for a farm home. This fine farm comprises two hundred forty acres of valuable land, the cultivation of which yields its owner a good income. All the buildings are the handiwork of the proprietor, August Fischer, who has profitably combined the trade of carpenter and builder with the vocation of farm- ing. Unlike the shoemaker and the painter, whose children are unshod and whose house is left unpainted, Mr. Fischer used his skill and genius in erecting as his own domicile one of the best farm residences in Bates county and the other buildings grouped around about are also kept in a good state of repair. His big barn, built in 1900, measures 32 x 60 feet with a height of sixteen feet to the square. He has a substantial corn crib, hog house, granary and a machine shed, chicken house and hog houses-the buildings on the place forming a little village all in then- selves. Probably the most valuable adjunct to the farming operations is a never failing well which was drilled to a depth of two hundred forty-six feet, the water being raised by wind-mill power, and the under- ground stream having a steady flow of over one gallon each minute. Mr. Fischer carries on general farming and stock raising.
AUGUST FISCHER AND FAMILY.
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HISTORY OF BATES COUNTY
August Fischer was born May 17, 1863, in Germany, the son of Louis and Johanna (Niedenmeier) Fischer, natives of Germany, who came to America in 1880 and made a settlement in Pleasant Gap town- ship, where Louis Fischer died on January 29, 1893. Louis and Johanna Fischer were parents of nine children : Louis, Fred, and Augusta Steiner, deceased : Charles, August, Mrs. Caroline Wittee, Henry, William, Mrs. Geyeta Halwig. August Fischer came to America in 1879. August Fischer came to Bates county in the spring of 1879 and ten years later he made his first purchase of land, investing his savings in eighty acres of land, known as the "Louis Fischer Farm," Prosperity has smiled upon him, and by means of hard work, good management and thrift he has added another quarter section to the original home place. Mr. Fischer learned the trade of carpenter and builder when a young man and he plied his trade in many parts of Bates county, his mechanical ability enabling him to turn many hundreds of dollars into his purse, and was of great help to him in making a good start in Bates county. In addi- tion to his home farm of two hundred forty acres, Mr. Fischer is owner of a tract of sixty-two and a half acres in Rockville township.
On September 25, 1887, August Fischer and Miss Mary Kern, of Rockville, born October 2, 1863, near Humboldt, Kansas, were united in marriage. She is a daughter of Martin Kern, who died in 1899 and is buried in Prairie City cemetery. Her mother resides at Rockville. The Kerns located in Bates county in 1869. Mr. and Mrs. August Fischer have children as follow: Herman, a farmer in Mt. Pleasant township; Caroline, wife of R. F. Davis, Hudson township ; Willie died at the age of eleven years; Yetta, wife of Joseph Bowers, Rockville township; Augusta, at home with her parents; Sophia, at home.
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