USA > Missouri > Bates County > History of Bates County, Missouri > Part 86
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J. W. Anderson and Arabella Barrows, a daughter of Freeman Barrows, the first county clerk of Bates county, Missouri, were united in marriage in 1880. Freeman Barrows died about 1860 and his remains were interred in the cemetery on the Barrows home place and after-
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ward removed to the cemetery at Rich Hill, Missouri. To J. W. and Mrs. Anderson have been born three children, all of whom are now living: Mrs. Medora Corbin, of Sterling, Colorado; L. W., who is a graduate of the St. Louis Pharmacy School, St. Louis, Missouri and is now a successful pharmacist at Joplin, Missouri; and Clyde Murphy, a graduate of the Rockville High School, Springfield Academy, Randolph- Macon Academy, and of the St. Louis Pharmacy School, St. Louis, Missouri, who has been stationed at Camp Doniphan since August 5, 1917 in the service of the United States.
Mr. Anderson began life a poor boy, with no special preparation in the way of educational training, and all that he has and all that he is has come as the inevitable result of honest, earnest effort and consecutive and persistent endeavor. Among the people with whom he has lived for so many years he occupies a high standing and possesses countless warm personal friends. The Andersons have for more than fifty years been respected and honored among the best families of Bates county, Missouri.
A. L. Gilmore, proprietor of the "A. L. Gilmore Stock Farm" of Deepwater township, was born in Portage county, Ohio on December 31, 1864. He is a son of Henry W. and Cornelia C. (Loomis) Gilmore, natives of Portage county, Ohio. Henry W. Gilmore came to Bates county, Missouri in 1873, locating in Old Hudson. He bought forty acres of the Newkirk farm, where he resided until his death in 1894. His wife died in December, 1910 and both parents are buried in Myers cemetery in Bates county. Two brothers of Henry W. Gilmore, Sam- uel and Charles, were veterans of the Civil War, and Samuel Gilmore for a few years conducted a shoe shop at Butler. Henry W. Gilmore and Mrs. Gilmore were the parents of six children: Mrs. Laura E. Graham, Falls City, Oregon; Mrs. Mary A. Mabry, St. Clair county, Missouri; Mrs. Mittie Keene, Spruce, Missouri; Mrs. Rilla Radford, Butler, Missouri; Mrs. Lulu Keene, Indianapolis, Indiana; and A. L., the subject of this review.
A. L. Gilmore attended school in Oak Grove district and later was a student at Butler Academy. After leaving school, he went to western Kansas and proved a government claim. A short time after- ward, he landed in the state of California and at that time had just thirty cents in his pocket. He made the trip in two days from Marys- ville, California to Laporte, a distance of eighty-seven miles. He went to work for the Sierra Lumber Company and was sent out with surveying
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parties up in the mountains. He was out on the trip three and one- half months. Food and supplies were taken to them on pack mules. He killed several deer on the trip and brought some of the deer horns back to Missouri, and has them yet. They were snowbound on their way home and had to crawl over the summit for a short distance on their hands and knees. They were at the foot of Lassen peak at one time on their trip. Mr. Gilmore entered the employ of the Sierra Lumber Company in California and remained with them for four years, the company offering him an increase in wages to remain with them longer, but Mr. Gilmore still dreamed of Bates county and believed that opportunities were still here and he was soon back again among his old friends. He located on a portion of the Captain Newberry farm, one mile southeast of Spruce, and built his present residence, a house of seven rooms, in 1912 and a commodious barn, 48 x 60 feet in dimensions, in 1908. All the improvements now on the place have been placed there by Mr. Gilmore and the clearing of the brush for farming operations on the soil has also been done by him. The "A. L. Gilmore Stock Farm" comprises two hundred forty acres of land and Mr. Gilmore is making an excellent success with both cattle and hogs.
Mr. Gilmore was first married January 14, 1892 to Jessie E. New- berry, a daughter of Captain Newberry, a sketch of whom appears else- where in this volume. Jessie E. (Newberry) Gilmore died in August, 1893. A. L. Gilmore and Edna E. Lawson were united in marriage on March 6, 1902. Edna E. (Lawson) Gilmore is a native of Deep- water township, Bates county, Missouri, a daughter of Isaac M. and Cordelia M. Lawson, honored and respected pioneers of Deepwater township. Mr. Lawson died in 1911 and his widow still resides at the Lawson homestead. Mr. and Mrs. A. L. Gilmore have four children : Edna I., Arthur L., Homer H., and Paul L.
Fraternally, A. L. Gilmore is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Modern Woodmen of America, the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, the Royal Neighbors of America, and the Knights of Pythias. Mr. Gilmore takes a most commendable interest in public and political affairs and he was elected assessor of Bates county in 1906 and was deputy assessor prior to that time. He has filled satis- factorily the offices of assessor and clerk of Deepwater township and, at the time of this writing in 1918, he is filling his second term in the office of township trustee, having been elected in April, 1915 and re-
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elected in April, 1917. A. L. Gilmore is a good, honest, conscientious official, attending as carefully to the interests of his township and county as to his own. He is a thorough, intelligent, and progressive agri- culturist and stockman. Mr. and Mrs. Gilmore stand high among the estimable and valuable citizens of Bates county.
C. N. Page, a prominent citizen of Mingo township, Bates county, an honored Union veteran of the Civil War, is a representative of one of the oldest pioneer families of Missouri. Mr. Page was born in 1846 in Moniteau county, Missouri, a son of William and Mary Page, both of whom were natives of Kentucky. William Page came to Moniteau county in the early thirties and thence moved with his family to Henry county, Missouri, where he died about 1859. His wife, the mother of C. N. Page, died in Moniteau county. To William and Mary Page were born the following sons: John E., deceased; Kemp, deceased ; Franklin, living in Henry county; Francis Marion, of St. Clair county, Missouri; and C. N., the subject of this review.
In the old fashioned "subscription schools" of Henry county, Mis- souri, C. N. Page obtained his education. Educational advantages were few in the pioneer days of Missouri and young Page was obliged to walk four and five miles to attend school held in a rudely constructed log cabin. Mr. Page enlisted in the Union army in 1861, when he was a lad scarcely sixteen years of age, and with him in the same com- pany at the same time were his brothers, John E. Kemp, Franklin, and Francis Marion, all of whom were of the political faith of the Democrats but of Northern sentiments in regard to the war. C. N. Page re-enlisted with the Sixteenth Kansas Cavalry and served throughout the war, receiving his honorable discharge at Fort Leav- enworth, Kansas. Mr. Page was with General Kearney on the Powder River expedition in Wyoming in the campaign against the Indians. After leaving Leavenworth, Kansas, Mr. Page came to Missouri and located near Creighton, whence he came to Bates county in 1896 and first established himself on a farm near Mayesburg, moving to his present country place in 1901, a farm comprising forty acres of land. In Mr. Page's own words, we may truthfully say of him that he is "a thoroughbred Missourian."
The marriage of C. N. Page and Mrs. Sarah M. Crosby was solem- nized in 1901. Mrs. Page was born and reared at Coshocton, Ohio. She came with her parents from her native state as far West as Illi- nois and there she was united in marriage with C. N. Crosby. Mrs. Page came to Bates county, Missouri from Illinois in 1867 or 1868 and was a resident of Mingo township at the time of her marriage
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with Mr. Page. C. N. Page has also been twice married. His first wife was Eliza Maupin, now deceased, and to this union were born two children: William, of Mingo township; and Mrs. Viola Bryant, of Chelsea, Oklahoma.
Mr. Page is a man of firm convictions and principles and what- ever he has undertaken in life has been with the object of benefiting not only himself but his neighbors and fellowcitizens as well. In the Civil War, he freely and cheerfully offered himself a sacrifice on the altar of freedom and duty and since the war has ended he has just as conscientiously discharged all duties encumbent upon him. He is a gentleman of pleasing personality and his genial manners and fond- ness for companionship have attracted to him scores of warm personal friendships. His reputation is such that no one calls in question the rectitude of his intentions and his character is an open book the pages of which are remarkably free from blot or stain.
Luther Poindexter, a successful and influential farmer and stock- man of Spruce township. Bates county, is a native of Boone county, Mis- souri. Mr. Poindexter was born in 1879, son of Mr. Poindexter and Mary Elizabeth (Salsman) Poindexter, the father, a native of North Caro- lina and the mother, of Camden county, Missouri. The Poindexters settled in Spruce township. Bates county in 1881 and the father rented land in the township until his death in 1903. Interment was made for him in the cemetery at Johnstown. The widowed mother now makes her home on her farm near Johnstown, Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Poin- dexter were the parents of the following children: Frances, the wife of James Chitty, of Altona, Missouri; Melvin, who died in infancy; William, who went to the state of Idaho in 1916 and now resides there ; Lark, a well-to-do farmer and stockman residing near Ballard, Mis- souri; Mollie, the wife of William Judd, residing near Ballard, Missouri; Luther, the subject of this review; Brush, a well-known farmer and stockman residing near Johnstown, Missouri; Ollie, who is now deceased and he left a widow, Mrs. Mintie (Crump) Poindexter; Roy, who is engaged in farming and stock raising near Johnstown, Missouri; Hattie, deceased ; Attie, the wife of Nilie Beaman, of Adrian, Missouri; Walter and Lucy, who reside with their widowed mother on the farm near Johnstown, Missouri.
When Luther Poindexter was a child, two years of age, his par- ents moved with their family to Bates county, Missouri and in this county Mr. Poindexter was reared and educated. He attended the dis-
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Reading from left to right: Wilber Smith ( (IV.), H. W. Smith (III.), M. L. Smith (I.), L. W. Smith (II.)
FOUR GENERATIONS OF A BATES COUNTY PIONEER FAMILY.
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trict schools of Spruce township and after acquiring a good common school education began farming and stock raising, in which pursuits he has since been engaged. Mr. Poindexter began life for himself at the age of twenty years. In 1916, he purchased his present country place, a farm comprising one hundred twenty-five acres of land located one mile south and one-fourth mile west of Ballard, Missouri, one of the most attractive rural homes in Spruce township. A branch of Soap creek flows through the farm and the land is well watered, for in addi- tion to the creek there are five good wells on the farm. The improve- ments include a comfortable, well-built residence, a house of five rooms ; a barn, 50 x 60 feet in dimensions ; a second barn, 40 x 50 feet in dimen- sions; an implement shed; and several hog sheds. The buildings are situated on an elevation and the drainage around them is the best. W. D. Howard formerly owned the Poindexter place. Mr. Poindexter is profitably engaged in raising cattle, hogs, horses, and mules and in addition is an extensive feeder of hogs. He is one of the enterprising, intelligent agriculturists of his township and his tireless efforts, unflag- ging industry, and good business judgment well merit a goodly share of success. Politically, Mr. Poindexter is a stanch Democrat.
In 1906 Luther Poindexter was married to Ada Zeiler, a daugh- ter of John and Sallie Zeiler, living pioneers of Osceola, Missouri. To this union have been born two children: John Melvin and Dimple. Mr. and Mrs. Poindexter are highly regarded and valued among the best and most prominent citizens of Spruce township, where for nearly forty years the Poindexter name has been respected as the synonym of honorable and upright manhood and womanhood.
Matthias L. Smith, a retired farmer and stockman of Rich Hill, Missouri, one of the brave clan of noble pioneers of Bates county, a prominent, public-spirited, and influential citizen, is a native of Ohio. Mr. Smith was born February 4, 1840, in Fayette county, Ohio, a son of Jacob and Abbie (Bloomer) Smith. The father died when his son, Matthias L., was a child three years of age and the boy was reared to the age of twelve years by his uncle, Elijah Bloomer, when his mother remarried and young Matthias L. went with her to the new home in Noble county, Indiana. He rode horseback all the way from Ohio to Noble county, Indiana, accompanied by his step-father, John Baker, and his nephew. The mother of Matthias L. Smith died in Noble county, Indiana, about 1907.
At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, Matthias L. Smith enlisted
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in the Union army, serving with Company C, Thirtieth Indiana Infantry, for three years, being mustered out and honorably discharged at Indian- apolis, Indiana. The regiment with which Mr. Smith served took an active and important part in the battle of Shiloh on April 6 and 7, 1862, where General Johnston, one of the Confederates' most able commanders, bled to death on the field of battle before medical aid could be sum- moned, as the general had courageously and chivalrously ordered his surgeon to attend to the wounded elsewhere, when the total Union loss was thirteen thousand killed, wounded, and captured and the Con- federate loss ten thousand seven hundred; in the battle of Stone's River or Murfreesboro on December 26, 1862, when the casualties were a Union loss of thirteen thousand out of a total force of forty-three thou- sand, and a Confederate loss of ten thousand out of thirty-eight thousand and in this engagement Matthias L. Smith was in the very thick of the fray and although comrades all around him fell he seemed to have a charmed life and escaped without injury; in the battle of Chickamauga on September 19 and 20, 1863, which resulted in the loss of nineteen thousand five hundred killed, wounded, and captured on the Confederate side and sixteen thousand on the Union side, where General Thomas' heroic fight, when surrounded on three sides, saved the Union army from a complete rout and won for him the title of "The Rock of Chickamauga"; and in the battle of Lookout Mountain, "the battle above the clouds," on November 25, 1863.
After the Civil War had ended, Mr. Smith returned to Indiana and thence came to Bates county, Missouri, in October, 1868, and located in Lone Oak township on the John Atkison farm of one hundred sixty acres, which he purchased and later sold. Mr. Smith then bought a farm in the drainage district, disposed of it after having it nicely improved, and moved to Rich Hill, where he is now living in quiet and contented retirement. It is generally conceded that Matthias L. Smith has cleared and improved more land than any other one man in Bates county, Missouri. He has ever been an earnest advocate and enthusiastic "booster" of public improvements and he was one of the first to agitate the digging of the large drainage ditch in this county, one of the first to foresee its possibilities, and with Messrs. Bagby and Pitchford came to Butler to find out what might be done about it and at the same time the Linn county, Kansas, people were at work here agitating the work. Judge Harper was in the Legislature at the time and secured the pass- age of the bill legalizing the formation of the district. Mr. Smith states
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that J. F. Kern is really the "Daddy of the Ditch." Mr. Kern is deaf in one ear and Mr. Smith says that the former "always turned his deaf ear to the kickers."
The marriage of Matthias L. Smith and Annie Gallatin, a native of Massillon, Stark county, Ohio, was solemnized in 1865 in Noble county, Indiana. To this union were born the following children: Lewis, of Lone Oak township, Bates county; Daniel, of Lone Oak township, Bates county ; William, of Summit township, Bates county ; Abbie, who resides in Garden City, Kansas; and four children died in infancy or in childhood. The mother died about 1893 and her remains were laid to rest in Elliott cemetery in Lone Oak township. Matthias L. Smith and Mrs. Amanda Hudson were united in marriage in 1908. By her former marriage, Mrs. Smith has five children living: Harvey and William, of Vernon county, Missouri; James, of Kansas City, Mis- souri; Mrs. Sada Gilbert, of Vernon county, Missouri; and Mrs. Rosa Seward, of Oklahoma. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have a host of friends in Bates county and they are highly regarded among the best and most substantial citizens of the city of their residence. The Smith home is in Rich Hill on East Maple street.
Bates county can boast no more noble-minded, better citizen than Matthias L. Smith and all who know him bear witness to his many excellencies and give unstinted praise to him who has labored so long and earnestly in assisting to bring about the large measure of prosperity which the county now enjoys. His has indeed been an active and full life and the work he has accomplished and the good he has done will remain for an untold number of years a monument to his memory. Surrounded by a host of friends, now at the age of seventy-eight years, Mr. Smith is passing the eventide of life in peaceful quiet and ease, enjoying in a marked degree the respect and love of all the citizens of his community, living in retrospect the days when Bates county was new, and contemplating with satisfaction the countless remarkable changes in which he has been a potent factor, through which Bates has won a distinguished place among its sister counties of the state.
L. W. Smith, enterprising and substantial farmer and stockman, Lone Oak township, was born in Ligonier. Noble county, Indiana, June 25, 1868, but has been a resident of Bates county since he was one year old. He is thus justly entitled to be classed among the old settlers of this county. He is a son of M. L. and Johannah (Gallatin) Smith, his father having been born in Indiana and his mother in Ohio. When
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M. L. Smith attained young manhood, he enlisted in the Thirtieth Indi- ana Regiment of Infantry and served during the Civil War. Four years after the close of his war service he came West and located in Bates county on a farm situated about one-half mile from that of his son in Lone Oak township. His farm was in section 15 of this township. He followed farming and stock raising until his retirement to a home in Rich Hill, Missouri. L. W. Smith is one of four children born to his parents ; and is the eldest of the family, the others being: Abbie, who is married and resides in Garden City, Kansas; D. G., a farmer of Lone Oak town- ship; W. H., lives in Summit township.
The education received in the public school by L. W. Smith was supplemented by instruction from his mother at home, she having been a competent school teacher prior to her marriage. Throughout his entire life he has followed farming and has been successful to the extent of becoming owner of four hundred five acres of rich land, well improved and stocked with high-grade cattle of the Shorthorn and Polled Angus breeds. He is one of the prosperous hog raisers of this section of the state, having disposed of over two thousand dollars worth of fat porkers during the year 1917. During the past year he also harvested nearly two thousand bushels of wheat and has sown a considerable acreage for the present year's harvest.
Mr. Smith was united in marriage with Dora Harcourt, a native of Bates county, and daughter of Frank Harcourt, an early settler of this county. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have a family of seven children, as follow: Howard, living in Lone Oak township; Goldie, at home with her parents; Sylvia, married Juan Warren, of Garden City, Kansas; Lulu, wife of Albert Rhodes, Lone Oak township; Mabel, Frank, and Fern, all at home.
For several years Mr. Smith has taken a prominent and influential part in Republican politics and has frequently represented the Bates county organization at state conventions, having also served as dele- gate to several county conventions where his influence was felt in the selection of candidates for office and the forming of party policies. He has held practically every office within the gift of the people of his township excepting that of assessor and constable. He is a member of the Church of the Latter Day Saints.
Harry T. Pratt, well and favorably known citizen of Hudson town- ship, has resided in Bates county for the past fifty years, and is one of the best known men of his section of the county. Mr. Pratt was
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born in New York, May 5, 1864, and is a son of Joel and Mary (Tay- lor) Pratt, both of whom were natives of New York. The Pratt family came to Bates county, Missouri in 1868 and made a settlement in Hudson township, locating on a farm just north of the townsite of Hudson. This is one of the Bates county towns that has disappeared from the map after a brief heyday of growth and prosperity. In the year 1868, Hudson boasted a number of store buildings, a church, school and several residences and was a place of some importance. It flour- ished until the coming of the railroad and the founding of the town of Appleton City in the adjoining county of St. Clair. Hudson there- upon took the very best course-the inland town was moved bodily to the vicinity of the railroad and thus passed out of existence. Mr. Jackling kept store in Hudson in 1868. His son, Daniel Jackling, is now a copper mining millionaire residing in San Francisco. The main street of Hudson as it was fifty years ago now forms the road between the Pheasant and Pratt farms. The present school house is located in a grove which had been set out by the townsite company and designated as a public park. One tree in this grove is over fifty years old. When Appleton City was started, over thirty houses were moved from Hud- son to the new city in the early seventies. Among this number was the Hudson Presbyterian church which was sawed in two parts and hauled by oxen and horses to the new site. The first half of the build- ing was burned while being transported to its destination. The other half was taken on to Appleton City and the burned part replaced, but the entire building has since been replaced by a new church edifice more in keeping with the progress of the times.
Joel Pratt purchased a tract of one hundred and eighty acres on the north line of the township or town and increased his holdings to a total of two hundred fifty acres which are under the care and manage- ment of his son, Harry T. Pratt. He was the first postmaster of Hud- son, serving in this capacity during 1868 and 1869. Joel Pratt and wife were parents of the following children: Harry T. and Garry, are twins, the latter of whom is a merchant doing business in Apple- ton City : Mrs. Alice A. Alexander, Appleton City. Joel Pratt was born in Washington county, New York, August 2, 1835, a son of Garrison Pratt, who was born in Connecticut in 1806, married Miss Elmira Smith, of Vermont, and moved to New York when a young man. Joel Pratt was reared to young manhood in Washington county, New York and was educated in the public schools. He was married in Alle-
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gheny county, New York, February 10, 1859, to Miss Mary Jane Tay- lor, a daughter of Francis F. Taylor, of Allegheny county. In 1864, Mr. Pratt engaged in the mercantile business at Black Creek and con- tinued in this business for four years. In 1868 he came to Bates county, where he has pursued a long and interesting career. He was prominent in the affairs of the Democratic party and served several years as township collector.
Harry T. Pratt received his education in the schools of his home township and the old Butler Academy. After ending his school days he was engaged in farming until 1902 and was then engaged in the mercantile business at Appleton City in partnership with his father and brother, Garry. In 1911 he returned to the farm and is success- fully engaged in tilling his well-improved place of two hundred thirty- five acres. The Pratt place is one of the best watered stock farms in the county and is equipped with two sets of improvements including three barns. Mr. Pratt's present home is a building remodeled from what was formerly the postoffice and hotel building of the town of Hudson and consists of nine rooms. Since 1917, Mr. Pratt has engaged in the breeding of registered Aberdeen Angus cattle and has a herd of twenty-five cows and a registered male of this fine breed of cattle. He has recently disposed of a carload of fine cattle and has about seventy-five head of grade stock on his place. He has sixty head of Shropshire sheep and a fine drove of Poland China hogs. He has been active in the civic affairs of Hudson township for the past thirty years and has filled the office of member of the township board, justice of the peace and is now serving as constable and tax collector. Mr. Pratt is an elder of the Presbyterian church of Appleton City. He is a mem- ber of the Odd Fellows and is affiliated with the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and he and Mrs. Pratt are members of the Presby- terian church.
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