USA > Missouri > Bates County > History of Bates County, Missouri > Part 85
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Jefferson L. Porter was appointed associate judge of the Bates county court in 1864 when the court held its sessions at Johnstown. He was prominent in the affairs of Bates county for many years and became widely known as a breeder of Hereford cattle and Duroc Jersey hogs. In 1901 he started the practice of holding private sales of his fine stock at his place and made a success of the undertaking. To Jeffer- son L. and Catherine Porter were born children as follow: Stewart F., Jonesboro, Arkansas; Damaris, wife of Lee Witt, she died in Sep- tember. 1917. at Troy, Missouri: Bettie, wife of Alvin Hart, Henry county, Missouri: Jennie, wife of Jasper Talbot, Miami, Oklahoma : Edith Murray, widow, Longmont, Colorado: Mollie M., wife of Jordan Cottle. Chicago, Illinois: George S., subject of this sketch: A. L. died at the age of thirty-five years in 1892, killed at Lexing- ton Junction in a railway accident : Nora died in 1912, aged forty years ; three children died in infancy. Mrs. Catherine (Schere) Porter was born in Virginia and died in 1892. Mrs. Porter was a daughter of John Jacob Schere, born in Guilford county, North Carolina, February 7. 1785, married Elizabeth Grierson. John Jacob Schere was the son of Frederick Schere, born in Guilford, North Carolina, in 1763, married Barbara Smith, and served in the Patriot Army during the War of the American Revolution, losing an ear in battle. He was the son of Jacob Daniel Schere, a native of Oberbelbock, Germany, married Hannah Sophie Dick, and immigrated to Berks county, Pennsylvania, in Septem- ber, 1748. His son probably migrated to North Carolina and there founded another branch of the family from which George S. Porter is a direct decendant.
George S. Porter was educated in school district No. 53, and studied in the Appleton City Academy for two years. After leaving school he
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took up farming and was his father's partner until Judge Porter died. He is managing a large farm of five hundred acres in all which is one of the best equipped stock farms in Bates county. All of this land is located in Deepwater township, excepting eighty acres which lies in Spruce township. All of the land excepting sixty acres is in hay, pas- ture and timber. The place is well watered, a deep well drilled three hundred and twenty feet furnishes an abundant supply of water for all purposes. Mr. Porter keeps one hundred head of cattle and about twenty head of horses and mules on the place.
On December 11, 1900, George S. Porter was united in marriage with Sarah Bessie Alexander, of Deepwater township, a daughter of T. J. and Maud (Colegrove) Alexander. Her father was a native of Indiana, born in Jay county, May 18, 1854, and accompanied his father. Andrew Calvin Alexander, to Bates county in 1867. Andrew Calvin Alexander died in Bates county in 1893. T. J. Alexander. farmer, died August 21, 1899. His wife, Mrs. Maude Alexander, was born in Lebanon, Indiana, November 12, 1860, and is now making her home near Johnstown. Mr. and Mrs. George S. Porter have three children : Ruby Violet, Ralph Alexander, and Ruth Catherine. Mrs. Sarah Bessie Porter was born July 20, 1882, and reared in Bates county. Her grandfather, Andrew C. Alexander, a prosperous farmer, was a native of Ohio, and married Sarah H. Callahan, who was born April 9, 1834, in Jackson county, Ohio, and died Fberuary 10, 1895. They were mar- ried June 2, 1853, moved from Indiana to Iowa in 1857, and from Iowa to Missouri in 1867 and located near Johnstown.
While Mr. Porter is a Republican in politics he attends strictly to his own business affairs and leaves political matters for those who have more time for politics. He votes as a good citizen should but the man- agement of his large stock farm and his home affairs keep him occupied.
M. W. Anderson, a prominent and prosperous farmer and stockman of Spruce township, is one of the successful, "self-made" men of Bates county. Mr. Anderson was born October 10, 1860, in Lafayette county, Missouri, a son of Jesse and Marinda Anderson, who came from Vir- ginia in the early days and settled on a farm in Lafayette county. Jesse Anderson died when his son, M. W., the subject of this review, was a small lad, ten years of age. Mrs. Anderson moved to Arkansas, where she died, and the son, M. W., was left to the protection and care of a neighbor, J. H. Hobbs, and he was reared by Mr. Hobbs in Johnson county.
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Mr. Anderson, whose name introduces this review, obtained his education in the public schools of Johnson county, Missouri. At the age of twenty-one years, he came to Bates county. He had just fifteen cents in his pocket and that amount meant the sum total of his financial resources. Mr. Anderson obtained employment at once and for his services received an overcoat and a pair of overshoes. which he was needing badly, and then served as apprentice with I. N. Paulline, a promi- nent contractor of Butler, Missouri, until he had mastered the carpenter's trade, which he followed in connection with farming in Bates county for thirty years. The first work which Mr. Anderson did in Bates county was husking corn in the snow for which he received the munificent sum of twenty-five cents a day-and it was real work, at that. By 1889, he had saved a sum of money sufficient to purchase a farm and he bought his first land in Mingo township, a place he later sold. Mr. Anderson then moved from this county to Urich in Henry county and was there engaged in buying and selling town lots and improving city property. He disposed of his interests in 1894 and purchased his present country place, a farm comprising one hundred twenty acres of land originally, from A. J. Allen and to his first holdings later added forty acres more, a tract purchased from John Winegardner. On this place in Spruce township, Mr. Anderson is profitably employed in raising horses, cattle, sheep, and hogs, and purebred Barred Plymouth Rock chickens.
The marriage of M. W. Anderson and Mary F. Kenney, a dangh- ter of Rev. William and Martha A. (Drennan) Kenney, honored and revered pioneers of Sangamon county, Illinois, was solemnized Decem- ber 7, 1910. Reverend and Mrs. Kenney came to Bates county, Mis- souri in the autumn of 1868 and located in Spruce township, where they both died. The remains of both father and mother were interred in Bethel cemetery in Bates county, Missouri. Mrs. Anderson had the following brothers and sister, two living: C. E., Santa Barbara, Cali- fornia; B. F., of Spruce township; Mrs. Effie M. Sparkman, who died at Portland, Oregon; and Arthur E., who died at the age of sixteen years at the old homestead in Spruce township, Bates county. Mr. Anderson's brothers and sisters were, as follow: John, deceased; Al- fred, Osceola, Missouri; Isaac, deceased: Mrs. Jennie Gregory: Mrs. Lizzie Paul, of Johnson county, Missouri; Mrs. Mattie Forney, Enid, Oklahoma; Mrs. Huldah Allen, Gypsum, Kansas; Mrs. Belle Rich, of Deepwater township, Bates county; and Mollie. To M. W. and Mary F. (Kenney) Anderson have been born two children: Nina May and
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Benjamin Wesley. By a former marriage, Mr. Anderson is the father of four sons: Arthur P., a well-to-do merchant of Los Angeles, Cali- fornia; Robert E., a successful farmer and ranchman of Great Falls, Montana; Archie B., a well-known farmer and stockman of Mingo township, Bates county; and William R., a prosperous farmer of Henry county. The Anderson name is widely and favorably known in west- ern Missouri.
The Anderson farm lies ten miles southwest of Creighton, twenty miles northeast of Butler, and sixteen miles east of Adrian. Mr. Ander- son has himself improved the place, adding all the buildings except the old ones erected by Mr. Mingus in the fifties. The improvements, which M. W. Anderson has placed on the farm, include a handsome residence, a ten-room structure, two stories and with a basement, built in 1905; a barn, 46 x 50 feet in dimensions, constructed of native lum- ber; a cattle and hog shed, 18 x 60 feet in dimensions : a sheep shed, 16 x 60 feet in dimensions: a ninety-ton silo, erected in 1911. Mr. Anderson feeds silage to his herds of horses, cattle, and sheep and is an enthusiastic advocate of it, but insists that it should be fed properly. He raises fine Percheron horses and is the owner of a Kentucky Ham- bletonian mare, a splendid saddle horse and trotter, seven years of age. Mr. Anderson has raised Shropshire sheep for twenty-five years and at the present time has a number of registered animals in his herd.
In the election of 1917. M. W. Anderson was elected trustee of Spruce township, the first Republican to be so honored. He is now serving his first term in office and is attending to all his official duties with the skill and excellence of an experienced man. In all the affairs of life, Mr. Anderson has manifested the same zeal, enterprise, business tact, and excellent judgment, which now characterize him as a public official. His unflagging industry and perseverance have enabled hin to carry to a successful issue every undertaking to which he devotes his time and attention. He is in sympathy with all movements which tend to promote the public welfare and his public-spiritedness. his candor, and his integrity have won for him the respect of all with whom he has come in contact. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson are worthy and valued members of the Walnut Grove Presbyterian church.
Jesse L. Brooks, wide-awake and progressive farmer of Pleasant Gap township, is a native of Michigan. having been born in that state. in 1876. He is the son of Samuel Jay Brooks, who was also born in Michigan, November 30. 1845. He disposed of his farm holdings in Branch county, Michigan in 1883 and came to Bates county, Missouri,
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his first purchase of land being a tract of one hundred acres formerly owned by David Walker and located three-fourths of a mile north of the village of Pleasant Gap. The improvements on the place at the time of the purchase were a small house and poor outbuildings. Mr. Brooks erected a barn, dug a cellar, and built a hay-shed and added to his possessions until he became owner of two hundred forty-five acres. He died December 8, 1893. His wife was Amanda Evelyn Sweezey prior to her marriage. She was a native of New York, and now makes her home in California. The children of Samuel Jay and Amanda E. Brooks are: Jesse L., subject of this review; Fannie Effie, wife of Perry Rogers, Porterville, California.
After attending the common schools, Jesse L. Brooks studied for one year at Butler Academy. He then returned to the farm in Pleas- ant Gap township and worked with his father until his death. Mr. Brooks has added twenty acres to the original Brooks home farm and now owns two hundred sixty-five acres in one connected body-splen- did farm land-all of which is in intensive cultivation and producing good crops excepting seventy acres of timber and pasture. Mr. Brooks has erected a fine barn 20 x 32 feet in dimensions. His barn number two is larger and measures 45 x 60 feet in size. He has also erected a silo, 12 x 36 feet, and has a smaller barn for hay and fodder. At the present writing (January, 1918) Mr. Brooks has twenty head of cattle, thirty head of fine hogs, and ten horses and mules-all good stock.
On January 31, 1903, Jesse L. Brooks and Mary Alice Swezy. of Pleasant Gap township, were united in marriage. Mrs. Brooks is a daughter of David B. and Ida (Brandenburg) Swezy. well-known resi- dents of Pleasant Gap township, the former of whom died on Novem- ber 5, 1916, and the latter is still living on the farm three miles south of Pleasant Gap. The Swezys came to Missouri in 1871 and located in Bates county in 1873. The remains of Mr. Swezy are buried at Round Prairie cemetery. Mr. and Mrs. Brooks have two children: Ida Evelyn, and Mary Arleen. The Brooks home is a very pleasant one and Mr. and Mrs. Brooks take an active part in social affairs in their neighborhood. Mr. Brooks is a member of the Pleasant Gap Booster Club, which is working for the establishment of a community house at Pleasant Gap, an undertaking which is worthy of success and will prove of great benefit to the people of this vicinity in many ways.
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William T. Nichols, a successful farmer and stockman of Grand River township, is one of Bates county's most highly regarded and valued citizens. Mr. Nichols is a native of Indiana. He was born in Warren county, Indiana, in 1847 and in childhood moved with his parents to Warren county, Illinois, in 1854, thence to Coffey county, Kansas, in 1857, where they took up government land and settled on a farm located between Burlington and Leroy and where both father and mother died. The mother died in the spring of the year 1859 and the father died in the ensuing autumn. W. T. Nichols was an orphan at the age of twelve years, the son of Thomas and Elizabeth Nichols. He returned to Illinois after the death of his father and remained in that state until 1867, when he returned to Kansas and two years later came thence to Bates county, Missouri, which county has been his home for nearly fifty con- tinuous years.
When the Civil War broke out in 1861, W. T. Nichols was an orphan lad fourteen years of age. He was imbued with patriotic fervor and endeavored zealously to get into the ranks of the Union army, but he was entirely too short. The examining officials demanded of him that he remove his boots and then measured him and, as he was an unde- veloped boy, he fell far short of the standard height. Mr. Nichols attended school in Illinois and Kansas. In his youth, he was employed in work on the Lexington Lake & Gulf railroad bed and it was neces- sary for him to follow the officials in order to obtain his last pay. He received two dollars a day and a man with a team received from three to three and a half dollars a day. After locating in Kansas, Mr. Nichols' brothers hauled provisions from Westport, Missouri. In 1869, he pur- chased with his hard-earned savings a small tract of land in Grand River township, Bates county, thirty acres of his present home place, from his uncle, Hiram Nichols, who had settled in Bates county, Missouri, in 1862 and died here in March, 1893. To his original holdings Mr. Nichols has constantly added until he now owns a valuable farm com- prising one hundred ten acres of choice land in Grand River township. located five miles northeast of Adrian in one of the best farming districts of this section of the state. Hiram Nichols, the former owner of the farm, was one of the first settlers in this township, a brave, sturdy pio- neer who spent the greater part of his life in Bates county. His residence was a rude, one-room log cabin. W. T. Nichols was obliged to use the water from the branch nearby for drinking purposes, when he first set- tled on his farm in Bates county, and in 1874 he carried maple saplings
WILLIAM T. NICHOLS AND WIFE.
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and two box-alder trees from the creek banks and transplanted them in his yard and they are still growing nicely, one being three feet in diame- ter. He recalls how, in the spring of 1875, the devastating grasshoppers destroyed his crops and all growing plants on his farm, but undauntedly he replanted and in spite of the pests raised a good crop of corn. Mr. Nichols well remembers the days in Bates county when hogs sold for one dollar and eighty cents a cut, corn for fifteen cents a bushel, eggs for three cents a dozen, large hens for one dollar and fifty cents a dozen, and small hens for one dollar and twenty-five cents a dozen. He has himself sold his produce at the above given prices. In discussing mat- ters relative to early-day facilities for obtaining an education, Mr. Nichols states that Mingo school district was organized before the Civil War and that the one school house in the district, a frame building con- structed of native lumber, stood the havoc of war and remained stand- ing for many years afterward.
The marriage of W. T. Nichols and Hattie Simpson, a daughter of Benjamin and Mildred (Covington) Simpson, natives of Kentucky, was solemnized September 4, 1877. Benjamin Simpson was killed near Dayton in Cass county, Missouri, in 1861, mention of which is made in Judge Glenn's "History of Cass County." Mildred (Covington) Simp- son was a member of the family of Covingtons in whose honor the city of Covington, Kentucky, was named. Hattie (Simpson) Nichols was born in 1861, in the same year in which her father was killed, in Grand River township, Bates county, Missouri, and two years later her mother moved with her children to the old home place in Kentucky and there remained until 1871, when she returned to the Bates county home to find everything on the farm destroyed, the house, the barn, and even the stone chimney. Mrs. Simpson was the heroic type of pioneer woman who knew not what discouragement or failure meant. She rebuilt the residence, improved the farm of one hundred twenty acres of land, and unaided, reared and educated and provided for eleven chilren. Mrs. Simpson was one of the most noble of the brave pioneer mothers, a woman of remarkable energy and ability who was held in the highest esteem and respect by all who knew her and she was widely known. Her death, December 15, 1902, was deeply lamented in Bates county. Mrs. Simpson's remains are interred in Crescent Hill cemetery. Mrs. W. T. Nichols recalls her first school teacher, Miss Sarah Severs, at Deer Creek school house, and she was in turn succeeded by Dr. E. E. Gilmore. To W. T. and Hattie (Simpson) Nichols have been born five
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children, all of whom are now living: Etta May, who is at home with her parents; Addie Elizabeth, the wife of John Revis, of Severy, Kan- sas; William Dallas, at home; Zora, the wife of Edwin Dryden, of Ham- burg, Iowa; and Benjamin Franklin, Adrian, Missouri.
The success which has attended the efforts of W. T. Nichols has been constant. He has encountered more than the usual difficulties that beset the pathway of every "self-made" man. He began life with more than the ordinary handicaps, an orphan, without educational advantages and without financial resources, but with a will which no obstacle could weaken and a high purpose born of determination to succeed, he has overcome them all and won for himself a prominent place among the leading farmers and substantial citizens of his township and county.
Joseph F. Wix, prosperous and enterprising farmer and stockman of Pleasant Gap township, is a native son of Bates county and a mem- ber of one of the oldest and most prominent of the pioneer families of this section of Missouri. His father was Joseph Wix, who settled in Bates county as early as 1839. His mother was Eliza Malcomb Wix, also of Missouri pioneer lineage. A complete biography of Joseph Wix, pioneer, appears elsewhere in this volume in connection with the biography of Clark Wix, brother of Joseph F. Wix. Joseph F. Wix was born in Pleasant Gap township in 1862 and has lived all of his life in Bates county, having practically grown up with Bates county, and progressed with the county from a wilderness of prairie and forest to the present time when the county ranks among the first among Mis- souri's greatest agricultural counties. His mother was the second wife of Joseph Wix, and he has a sister residing in Arkansas. Mr. Wix re- ceived his education in the Pleasant Gap public school, now called the Pleasant Ridge school. Mr. Wix went to Washington county with his parents and also lived for three years in Cedar county, Missouri. He resides upon a part of his father's old homestead, having become the owner of this place by the purchase of the various interests of the other heirs. His farm embraces two hundred and ten acres of rich land, which includes thirty acres of timber. All of the existing improvements on the place were erected under the supervision of Mr. Wix, his resi- dence having been built in 1902, a good building of two stories and six rooms. His large barn measures 44 x 50 feet in dimensions, and he has a smaller barn 26 x 30 feet in size. The Wix farm is located two miles north and one-half mile east of the village of Pleasant Gap and is considered one of the best farms in a locality noted for its pro- gressive farmers and excellent farmsteads. He raises Shorthorn cattle
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and handles mostly good grades of livestock, such as Poland China hogs and Rhode Island Red poultry.
On December 19, 1886, Joseph F. Wix and Miss Louise E. Wielms were united in marriage. To this marriage have been born children as follow: Grace, wife of H. L. Padley, Pleasant Gap township; Fan- nie, wife of E. E. Morilla, Pleasant Gap township; Cora, Tillie, and Emma J., at home with their parents, the latter attending the Butler High School. Mrs. Louise E. Wix is a daughter of John and Barbara Wielms, the former of whom emigrated from his native land of Bel- gium in 1855. Mrs. Wielms was born in Switzerland and left her native land and came to America with her parents in about 1855. John and Barbara Wielms were married in Texas and came to Vernon county, Missouri in 1866. Mr. Wielms died in Vernon county, and Mrs. Wielms now resides at Virgil City, Missouri. Mr. Wix is one of the leaders in the civic life of Pleasant Gap and has served as a member of the township board. The Wix family are prominent in their home township and are progressively inclined, taking an active part in social activities and ever ready to do their part in advancing the interests of their honie community and county.
J. W. Anderson, the pioneer druggist of Rockville, Missouri, is a member of one of the most prominent pioneer families of the state. Mr. Anderson was born in Henry county, Missouri in 1852, a son of Dr. Z. and Susan (Gilkeson) Anderson. Dr. Z. Anderson located with his family at Papinsville, Missouri in 1856. He was a native of Ten- nessee, born in 1826, and a graduate of the McDowell Medical College, of St. Louis, Missouri. Susan (Gilkeson) Anderson was a daughter of William Gilkeson, an honored pioneer of Johnson county, Missouri. At about the time the Andersons came to Papinsville, Missouri, Doc- tor Bedinger located at Papinsville. He was a native of Germany and is still remembered by many citizens of Bates county, who may recall his tragic death. The canoe upset and the doctor was thrown into the icy cold water and when found several hours later by a negro it was too late to revive him and Doctor Bedinger chilled to death in the canoe while being taken to Papinsville. Dr. Z. Anderson conducted a drug store and practiced medicine at Papinsville until the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861. He enlisted with the Confederates and served two years. In 1863, he returned to Missouri and located for a short time at St. Louis, whence he went to Illinois to remain until the war had ended. Doctor Anderson again came back to Missouri
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in 1866, returning this time to his old home at Papinsville, where he was engaged in the practice of medicine until his death in October, 1868. Mrs. Anderson survived her husband for nineteen years. She departed this life in 1887 and was laid to rest beside her mother in Rock- ville cemetery. The father's remains rest in the cemetery at Papinsville.
The following children were born to Dr. Z. and Mrs. Anderson : Mrs. Rilla Anderson, Rockville, Missouri; Ella, the wife of Clyde Murphy, of Springfield, Missouri; Mrs. Jennie Evans, of Glasgow, Ken- tucky; M. L., deceased; and J. W., the subject of this review. In the public schools of Papinsville, J. W. Anderson received his education. The first teacher, whom Mr. Anderson recalls, was a gentleman from New York, whom the school boys called a "Blue-bellied Yankee" and "Yank" in its shortened form. Following the New Yorker came Mr. Burnsides, from Ohio and he in turn was succeeded by Mr. Johnson, from Virginia. The school house was built of logs and among all the boys who attended school there in the early days J. W. Anderson knows of but three who are now living, namely: D. O. Bradley, Rich Hill, Missouri; J. L. Richardson, Nevada, Missouri; and J. W. Ander- son. The merchants of Papinsville, in the days before the Civil War, were Mr. Eddy, Mr. Duke, and Phillip Zeal. The Indians were want to come to Papinsville each autumn for their winter supplies and well J. W. Anderson remembers seeing bands of red men in the little village.' He states that in religious matters the Presbyterians were in those days in the ascendancy at Papinsville, they having the only church in the place. The brick court house was destroyed during the Civil War and the bridge near the town was burned by a division of Price's army.
In 1874, J. W. Anderson entered the drug business at Papinsville and remained there until 1884, when in September of that year he moved to Rockville and has since continued in business at this place. Mr. Anderson has been engaged in the drug business continuously for forty-four years. He carries an exceptionally fine line of drugs, sta- tionery, cigars, and toilet articles and his thorough knowledge of phar- macy, in conjunction with his courteous manner and evident desire to please his customers, has brought him a flattering patronage.
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