USA > Missouri > Boone County > History of Boone County, Missouri. > Part 63
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HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY.
member of the Baptist church, and of the grange. He was delegate to the State grange in 1881-2.
J. W. CONLEY.
James William Conley was born in Cedar township, Boone county, Missouri, March 18, 1848. He is the son of Benjamin Conley, a pioneer settler and one of the largest land holders in the county. His mother was a native of Kentucky. He is the youngest of a family of five sons and five daughters, of whom three of each sex are living, all in Boone county. He lived on the farm upon which he was born until the fall of 1875, when he removed to the place upon which he now resides. His farm consists of 800 acres of excellent land finely improved. It is situated three and one-half miles northeast of Ash- land and fifteen miles southeast of Columbia. He is largely engaged in stock raising and has some very fine thoroughbred cattle. He was married in St. Louis, April 29, 1878, to Miss Abbie S. Terry, daugh- ter of Thomas J. Terry, of the firm of Terry, Hodson & Co. Has had one son and one daughter. The son, alone, is living. .
WILLIAM HENRY CURTRIGHT.
The subject of this sketch is a son of Henry and Elizabeth Curt- right, the former of whom was born, lived and died in Kentucky, while the mother was a native of Maryland, though reared in Ken- tucky. William was born on his father's farm in Bourbon county, Kentucky, July 2d, 1825. He was the third son and fifth child of a family of five boys and three girls, and was reared and educated in his native State. He came to this State and county in 1852, and located on the farm where Bonne Femme church now stands, and has resided there ever since. Mr. Curtwright has been an extensive stock trader, and his operations in this particular have been in different parts of the land. He is still an importer and breeder of fine cattle. On October 2, 1857, he was married to Miss Catherine Jenkins, a native of Kentucky, and daughter of Theodore Jenkins, of Boone county. They have had two sons and one daughter, the latter of whom died in childhood. Mr. Curtright owns a very fine stock farm of 382 acres, six miles from Columbia, on the gravel road to Ashland. The first owner of this place was Col. McClelland, who settled it and sold to Mr. Theodore Jenkins, from whom Mr. Curtright got the ownership.
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HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY.
EDWARD L. DIMMITT.
Mr. Dimmitt was born at Liberty, Clay county, Missouri, June 3d, 1849. His father, St. Clair Dimmitt, was a gentleman of French descent, and a native of Virginia, and his wife, Edward's mother, was born in Ohio. Edward L. received the elementary part of his educa- tion in the public schools of Liberty, and completed his course at Watson's Seminary in Ashley, Pike county, leaving school for busi- ness life in 1867. He then engaged in the drug business in the en- ployment of his brothers in St. Louis, remaining with them until 1873. During the first and second years of that time he attended lectures at a school of pharmacy. In 1873, he came to Columbia, in this county, and engaged in the drug business under the firm uame of B. & E. L. Dimmitt. In June, 1874, he became a senior partner of the firm of Samuel & Strawn. From January, 1879, until July, 1881, he was book-keeper in the Exchange National Bank. At the latter date he accepted the position of cashier of the Farmers' Bank of Ash- land, to which place he removed in September of the same year, and of which he has since been a resident.
September 10, 1872, Mr. Dimmitt was married to Miss Betty R. Samuel, daughter of John M. Samuel, a well-known citizen of this county. Five children have been born to them, four of whom, two boys and two girls, are now living.
Mr. D. has been a member of the Presbyterian church since 1865. He is a member of the A. O. U. W., the National. Temperance Relief Union, and of the Good Templars. He was a delegate to the Grand Lodge of the latter order at Hannibal, in 1870, and at the session at Columbia, in 1880. He has held all of the offices in the subordinate lodge. In 1875 and 1876 he published The Golden Age, a temper- ance paper, at Columbia. Theodore Tilton claimed that the name of this journal was an infringement on that of his own of the same name published in New York. Mr. Dimmitt investigated the matter and, finding that Tilton had no copyright, procured one himself, and then called on the distinguished sentimentalist to discontinue the publica- tion of his New York Golden Age.
DR. DAVID DOYLE.
The subject of this sketch was one of the pioneer preachers of the West, uniting within himself the qualifications of a minister and a physician. His opportunities for doing good were varied and exten-
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HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY.
sive, and he discharged his whole duty to his fellow-man in the most cheerful and acceptable manner, leaving behind a memory of good works that will ever survive him. He came to Cedar township in 1818, being among the first settlers of that portion of Boone county. He was born in Rutherford county, North Carolina, and it is said that he commenced preaching before he was nineteen years old. He also commenced the practice of medicine at an early age. In the month of December, 1819, he with fifteen others met at the house of Anderson Woods for the purpose of founding a church, and were there and then constituted into what has since been known as the Little Bonne Femme Baptist church. He was pastor of New Salem Baptist church for twenty-nine years, having been chosen December 2d, 1828. He died of typhoid fever, July 29th, 1859. The congre- gation at New Salem erected a handsome monument over his grave as testimony of their great love for him as a man and their high appre- ciation of his services as a minister.
PETER ELLIS, DECEASED.
The subject of this sketch was born in Botetourt county, Virginia, April 1, 1778. He went with his father's family to Greenbrier county, and thence to Hawkins county, Tennessee. In 1800 he went to the Scioto Salt Works, and from there to St. Louis, which was then under Spanish rule. He was married on a sand bar near St. Charles, to Miss Eleanor Patterson, a Catholic priest officiating. Mr. Ellis moved to Boone county in 1818, where he lived until his death, January 27, 1849. They had ten children - six sons and four daughters - several of whose biographies appear in this volume.
JOHN ELLIS.
John Ellis is the oldest son and second child of Peter and Eleanor (Patterson) Ellis. He was born in St. Louis county, Missouri, De- cember 10, 1805, and came with his parents to Boone county in 1818. He was educated at the Bonne Femme Academy, completing his studies in 1828; was married March 17, 1831, to Catharine Doyle, oldest daughter of Dr. David Doyle. He then moved to a farm adjoining his father's, where he lived until 1834. In the fall of that year he bought and moved to the farm he now occupies, consisting of 400 acres on the Two-Mile Prairie, five miles northeast of Ashland and twelve miles southeast of Columbia. He had two sons and three daughters, of whom but one is now living - Mrs. Field, of Denver,
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Colorado. In 1860 his son, William P., then in his twenty-seventh year, was burned to death in his store at Providence. He was a graduate of the University, and a young man of bright promise, and his horrible death was universally lamented. In 1837-8 Mr. Ellis commanded a company under Col. Richard Gentry, in the Florida
war. The next year he was commissioned a colonel, and had command of a regiment under marching orders from Governor Boggs. This was during the Mormon insurrection. He was preparing to start with his regiment to the Mexican war, but was prevented by the illness of his wife, who died August 25, 1846. He was one of the first curators of the University. Of his colleagues, all are dead but one. He served as public administrator for ten years; was justice of the peace from 1844 to 1878. He now holds a commission as notary public. Few men in Boone county have been more active in public affairs, or disposed of more business, and none perhaps have come nearer rendering general satisfaction.
PETER ELLIS.
Peter Ellis is the youngest of ten children, born to Peter and Eleanor Ellis, pioneer settlers, and was born in Boone county, August 19th, 1826, where he was raised and educated. Was married October 12th, 1848, to Miss Sallie Mosely, daughter of William Moseley, who set- tled in Boone county in 1827. Two sons were born of this marriage, one of whom died in infancy the other when nearly grown. The first wife having died in 1852, Mr. Ellis was married in 1861 to Miss Amanda Moseley, sister of the first wife. By this marriage they have had four sons and three daughters, all of whom are now living. Mr. Ellis has been actively engaged in the mule trade since 1854, and has not failed taking a drove South every year except during the war. He has been a member of New Salem Baptist church since 1842.
E. P. ELLIS.
Elisha Patterson Ellis, one of the most substantial farmers of Boone county, and a man of superior intelligence and energy, was born in St. Louis county, Missouri, September 11th, 1817. His parents were Peter and Eleanor (Patterson) Ellis. They left St. Louis county the year after Elisha was born, and settled on the farm now known as the William Bass place, two and one-half miles north of Ashland, Boone county, Missouri. The elder Ellis was successful in life, being able, at his death, to give each of his ten children a farm of 160 acres of excellent
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HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY.
land. Elisha Ellis was reared on the home place, remaining with his parents until he was twenty-five years old. He availed himself of every opportunity to procure an education, and when he went forth in the world to work out his own destiny he was well prepared for the duties of life. In 1841 he came in possession of the farm upon which he now lives. Except the dwelling, which he afterwards enlarged, the land was unimproved. He moved to this place in the spring of 1843, having the year previous married Mary Jane Sheley, sister of Judge Sheley, of Independence, Missouri. Mr. Ellis has lived on this farm since settling it, except two years, from the spring of 1873 to 1875, spent in the commission business with the firm of Godlove & Ellis, St. Louis, Missouri. Mr. Ellis was married to Mrs. Mary Jacobs, of Holden, Johnson county, Missouri, formerly a native of Clark county, Kentucky. Mr. Ellis was for many years general of militia. Has been a member of New Salem Baptist church for forty years. Since 1840, Gen. Ellis has been steadily engaged in the mule trade, buying work mules and taking them South. His farm consists of 320 acres, situated four miles northeast of Ashland and fifteen miles southeast of Columbia, in one of the richest and most beautiful sections of this country .
J. M. ELLIS.
James McAllister Ellis is the fifth son and eighth child of Peter and Eleanor Ellis. He was born in Boone county, Missouri, May 27th, 1821, and was educated at the common schools of the county. Grew to manhood on his father's farm. At the age of eighteen commenced trading in mules. Took his first lot of 160 to Mississippi, in 1854, and has been South annually, with the exception of a few years when trade was dull, and during the war, when there was no trade at all. Mr. Ellis has a fine farm of 760 acres nine miles northeast of Ashland and ten miles southeast of Columbia. He was married in Callaway county, December 9th, 1852, to Martha J. Glasgow, daughter of Na- than Glasgow, of Millersburg. By this marriage they had two sons and two daughters, of whom but one daughter is now living. Mr. Ellis is a member of the New Salem Baptist church, also of the Ashland lodge of A. F. & A. M.
A. E. ELLIS.
Abraham Ellis is the son of Peter Ellis, a native of Virginia, and Eleanor Patterson, a native of North Carolina. The Pattersons and Ellises emigrated to Missouri about the same time and settled in St.
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Louis county, where Peter Ellis and Eleanor Patterson were married .. The subject of this sketch was born on his father's farm, December 5th, 1807. He was the second son and second child of a family of six sons and four daughters. In the fall of 1818 he moved with his par- ents to Boone county, pitching their tent, on the night of October 1st, just two miles south of where Mr. Ellis now lives. Commenced business for himself in 1829, but remained with his father several years, conducting business in partnership at home and on a stock ranch in Arkansas. In 1840 commenced farming on the east side of Two-mile Prairie, where he lived until the year 1858, when he moved to the place where he now lives. For twenty-eight years he has been engaged in the mule trade, buying in Missouri and selling in the South, principally at Bastrop, Louisiana. Mr. Ellis' farm is situated nine miles south of Columbia. He has 700 acres in a high state of cultivation. He was married, April 21st, 1836, to Miss Rutha H. Young, daughter of Edward Young, of Cedar township. They have one child, a daughter, who married Lawrence Bass, of this. county. He is a member of the New Salem Baptist Church.
WILLIAM T. ELLIOTT.
Smith Elliott, the father of William, came from Garrett county, Kentucky, in 1825, and settled near Rocheport, in this county. , He afterwards removed to the Perche bottom, seven miles east of Roche- port, where he died, in 1846. The subject of this sketch was born in Boone county, March 4th, 1832. His mother's name was Margaret Hutcheson, also a native of Garrett county, Kentucky. Young Elliott was in early life strongly impressed with a desire to travel, and when gold was discovered in California he was among the first to cross the plains, being ninety-six days on the road. Spent two years in Cali- fornia ; then went to Panama, and from there to Cuba; thence to New York. He then returned home. Having satisfied his curiosity for travelling he was now content to remain at home during the rest of his life. He was first married December 28th, 1853, to Miss Aman- da, daughter of John G. and Delina Cochran, who lived near Roche -- port, Boone county, Missouri. One child, now dead, was born of this . marriage, and named Louvena. Was married the second time, April 6th, 1869, to Mahala, daughter of William and Winnifred Christian. No children were born of this marriage. After the close of the war Mr. Elliott spent one year at Hamrick's Station, Putnam county, In- diana. During his stay at that place was made postmaster, by Presi-
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HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY.
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dent Johnson. He is a member of the Methodist church. Mrs. Elliott is a Baptist.
DAVID MARTIN EMMITT.
The father of David M. Emmitt was born in Pennsylvania, but has spent the most of his life in Ohio, where he now lives. His mother, . Louisa Martin, was a native of Ohio. David M. was born in Waverly, Ohio, November 10th, 1843. He was the fifth of a family of six sons, four of whom are now living. Except David M., they are all citizens of Ohio. The elder Emmitt is a banker, miller and distiller. The subject of this sketch was reared in Ohio and educated at Delaware College, graduating in 1863. After leaving college he commenced business, buying grain for his father, at Circleville, Ohio. In the fall of 1866 he went to Europe with his parents and a younger brother. He remained there one year, pursuing his studies at Frankfort-on- the-Main. In 1867, he returned to the United States, and went in- to the milling and distilling business with his brother, at Chillicothe, Ohio, under the firm name of Emmitt Brothers, continuing in this business for five years, when he sold out and came to Boone county, Missouri. In 1872 he bought the Rockbridge mill property, consist- ing of mill, distillery, store and 800 acres of land. He was commis- sioned a postmaster in 1875, which position he held until 1881, when he resigned. Mr. Emmitt was married at Circleville, Ohio, May 8th, 1867, to Miss Mary L., daughter of Rev. John Wagenhals, who is still living, at Lancaster, Ohio, and is probably the oldest German Lutheran minister in the State. They have had four sons and two daughters, of whom two sons and two daughters are living. The eldest son died unnamed. William Henry died in infancy. The living are Edwin, Flora, John and Katie. In 1863 Mr. Emmitt joined the parties in pursuit of John Morgan, in his famous raid through Ohio, and took an active part in the several skirmishes that took place during that exciting campaign. He is now permanently located in Boone county, and thoroughly identified with its interests.
CAPT. W. FEELY
Is a son of John and Jane (Wilson) Feely, and was born January 2, 1827, in the State of Ohio. He left his native State when about eight years old, living in Indiana two years, when he came to Missouri. He lived in St. Louis two years, and then went to his father's, in Cole county, Missouri, and from there the family moved to Cass county. He was selling goods in Harrisonville when the war
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broke out. Casting his lot with the Confederacy, he enlisted in the State Guards in 1861, and afterwards in Price's army, Sixteenth Reg- iment, Company K (of which he was captain ), Trans-Mississippi De- partment. He served four years in the army, and only when Lee . surrendered, and the cause so dear to his heart was hopeless, he laid down his arms and accepted the situation, as all good soldiers do. At the battle of Lone Jack he received a gunshot wound in the arm, which literally tore away the muscles. He was in the battles of Pea Ridge, Prairie Grove, Jenkins' Ferry, and Helena. He was married December 27, 1866, to Miss A. J. Watkins, of Cole county, and has been blessed with four children, all of whom are now living - Laura, John Alexander, D. Postlewait and Beulah. He is now selling gen- eral merchandise in Wilton, Boone county, Missouri, and is also post- master. He has been engaged in the mercantile business about thirty- two years, fifteen of them at his present home. In connection with his store he has a steamboat landing, and does a general commission business for the farmers in the country. He also ships about twenty- five thousand railroad ties every year, making that business a spe- cialty.
DR. WILLIAM WINSTON FINDLEY,
The subject of this sketch was born in Rodgersville, Hawkins county, Tennessee, December 15, 1829. He is the son of John B. and Mar- garet (Winston) Findley. The elder Findley was born in Orange county, Virginia. Mrs. Findley was a native of Halifax county, Vir- ginia. They removed to Alabama in 1844, settling in DeKalb county, removing from there to Madison county. The subject of this sketch first learned the printer's trade, afterwards the duties of a druggist, and for several years clerked in a drug store. He then read medicine under Dr. Carter, at Lebanon, Alabama, for four years, at the same time occupying a position in a drug store ; attended first course of lectures in 1854-55 at Nashville Medical Institute, and a second course at Marion ( Alabama) Medical College, where he received the de- gree of M. D. After that he was in the drug business up to the break- ing out of the war, when he enlisted under Capt. Thomasson, in Com- pany E, Fourth Alabama ; was afterwards transferred to Capt. Higgins' company, Twelfth Alabama; was at Seven Pines, both battles of Manassas, and at Sharpsburg. He then went to Richmond and took charge of one of the hospitals of that city. He bore away with him numerous testimonials both in reference to his skill and of gratitude from those he had faithfully served. Rejoining the army as a soldier,
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HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY.
he was captured by the enemy and taken to Rock Island. While a prisoner at that place he was appointed medical steward in the hospi- tal, and was of much service to his fellow-prisoners. When released he came directly to Boone county, Missouri, where he has lived ever since. He first stopped in Perche township, in what is known as Black- foot, where he taught school for several years. . He has been practic- ing medicine for about ten years. He was both a soldier and a physician during his service in the army ; was severely wounded at Manassas, and was sent to Richmond, where he remained in the hos- pital for three months. He was never married.
MICHAEL FISHER.
Mr. Fisher is the son of George and Mary Ann (Harness ) Fisher, both of whom were natives of Virginia. The mother lived to the ad- vanced age of ninety-two, dying in 1881, having spent her entire life within less than a mile of where she was born. On the paternal side, Mr. Fisher is of Irish descent, and on the maternal side, of Dutch ori- gin. Jacob Fisher, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, died in Virginia in 1835. Michael was born on his father's farm in Virginia, on the 17th day of August, 1811, and was the second son and child of a family of eight sons and three daughters: He was reared and edu- cated in his native State, and has been a farmer all his life. In 1837 he came to Boone county, Missouri, and settled on the Missouri river, near Nashville (now defunct ). He moved to the farm where he now resides in 1846, his place being now a large, finely-improved farm, six miles southeast of Columbia, on which he built his present dwelling- house in 1855. Mr. Fisher was married in Virginia, August 19, 1834, to Miss Rebecca Cunningham, who died November 18, 1839. His present wife was Phobe Ann, daughter of W. L. Woolfolk, of Boone county, to whom he was married January 4, 1853. Mr. Fisher takes great interest in educational affairs, and has served as school director for thirty-four years, being a member of the district board at this writ- ing. He has been a member of the Bonne Femme Baptist Church for thirty-eight years, and has always labored zealously for the cause of advancement, morality, and religion. Besides the homestead farm, Mr. Fisher is owner of other lands in the fine old county of Boone.
E. W. FORBIS.
Edmund Walter Forbis is the son of George Forbis, a native of Kentucky. His mother, Mary Perrigan, was also a native of that
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State. The subject of this sketch was born in Fayette county, Ken- tucky, June 16, 1811. He was the youngest of a family of twelve sons and three daughters, of whom four sons are now living, all in Boone. Mr. Forbis spent most of his youth in Oldham county, about thirty miles from Louisville. He came to Boone county in 1837 and settled on the farm where he now lives, two and one-fourth miles northwest of Ashland. The farm had been entered before, but Mr. Forbis improved it. He built the house he now occupies in 1838. He was married May 28, 1845, to Miss Ann Eliza Blanton, of Boone county, daughter of Burdette Blanton. She died, September 7, 1865, leaving two sons and four daughters. Mr. Forbis was again married, September 3, 1868, to Mrs. Eliza Self, who died February 9, 1879. He has two sons and two daughters living in this county. Mr. Forbis is an official member of the New Liberty Baptist church.
A. R. GIBBS.
Alexander Robert Gibbs was born in Bedford county, Virginia, June 4, 1815. He was the fifth son and seventh child of a family of nine sons and six daughters. In his tenth year he removed with his parents to Kentucky where he grew to manhood. Was brought up on the farm and in early life commenced trading in stock, buying in Ken- tucky and driving to Virginia, North Carolina and Alabama. Was married in Lee county, Virginia, March 9, 1847, to Mary J. Gibson, daughter of Zachariah Gibson. By this marriage they had four children, two sons and two daughters, all of whom are living except the oldest son, who was drowned in early boyhood. Mr. Gibbs came to Missouri in 1851 and settled on the farm where he now resides, six miles northeast of Ashland, and fifteen miles southeast of Columbia. There are 260 acres in this tract. He owns a large body of land on the Missouri river. Mr. Gibbs deals largely in thorough-bred stock, principally cattle.
NATHAN G. HAGANS
Is the son of Levi and Charlotte (Graham ) Hagans and was born in Kentucky. His father moved to Missouri in 1842 and settled in Lafayette county where he lived a year, when he moved to Boone county, where he died in 1854. Nathan, the subject of our sketch went to California in 185- and was gone about thirteen months. He lived in California seven months, having made the trip in a wagon drawn by oxen. He came back by sea via New Orleans. He has
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HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY.
been married twice. The first time to Miss Rebecca Wilcoxen by whom he had six children, four of whom are alive. His second wife was the widow of Samuel Wilcoxen, and the daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth Peak. Mr. Hagans is of Irish origin upon his father's side and inherits their good qualities of head and heart. He keeps the landing upon the river known as Hagans' landing and handles and ships about 12,000 ties per year. He is one of the very best citizens in a county noted for her number of men of sterling worth.
THOMAS G. HAGANS
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