USA > Missouri > Boone County > History of Boone County, Missouri. > Part 81
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REV. BARNABAS BAKER.
The subject of this sketch is the son of John and Ann (Canfield) Baker. He was born in Alfriston, county of Sussex, England, July 26th, 1817, and was reared and educated in England, where he also learned the trade of a shoemaker, serving an apprenticeship under his brother, John Baker. He came to America in 1843, and first settled at Jefferson City, Missouri, removing the year following to Callaway county, where he remained until 1845, when he returned to Jefferson City. His next move was to Franklin county, where he taught school for one year. The next two years were spent at St. Charles county. In the spring of 1848 he moved to Boone county, and settled near Ashland, where he was engaged to teach school. Spent one year in that locality, removing in 1849 to Providence, Boone county, where he worked at his trade. In the spring of 1851 he moved to Columbia, and has lived there ever since. In 1850 he was engaged by the American Tract Society, and has been with them ever since. He has also acted as agent for the Boone County Bible Society since 1851, and since that time he has circulated some seven or eight hundred thousand Bibles and religious books. He also preaches when called upon to do so. He is now president and treasurer of the executive board of the Little Bonne Femme Association, which position he has held for three years. Mr. Baker was married June 28th, 1838, at the Baptist Church, in Lewis, county of Sussex, England, to Miss Leath,
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daughter of Henry and Jane A. (Hope) Smith. They have had five children, two sons and three daughters : Mary A., Hattie (deceased ), William K. (deceased), Elizabeth J. and Samuel H., who is one of the firm of Trimble, Fyfer & Co. He was educated at the Baptist College and State University. In 1866 he commenced clerking for T. B. Gentry, and remained with him for two years. In December, 1868, he went in with J. R. Garth & Co., and was in the grocery business until January, 1880, when he entered the store of Trimble, Fyfer & Co. as a clerk. In 1881 he became a partner in the business. He is a member of the Baptist Church and a Good Templar. He is an excellent business man, and has won the confidence and esteem of the entire community. He has a bright future before him, and deserves no less.
JOHN F. BAKER
Was born in Norfolk, Virginia, August 1st, 1824. He is the son of Sylvester and Elsey Baker, both natives of Virginia. When he was a child only a few years old they moved to the plain where the city of Nashville now stands. They settled on eighty acres of land where the city now stands. They remained there a short time and then came to St. Louis county and after a few months moved to Montgomery coun- ty, Mo., and settled on the Loutre and built a mill a quarter of a mile below the plain where Capt. Callaway was killed by the Indians at the junction of Dry Fork and Loutre. In connection with the mill Mr. Baker had a cotton gin and inhaling the lint was the cause of his death, which occurred about five or six years after he settled in Montgomery county. He was judge of the county court at the time of his death. John F. was at that time about nine years old. Mrs. Baker lived about twenty years after the death of her husband ; she died at Danville, Montgomery county, about 1850, at the age of eighty-one years. They were both members of the Methodist church. John F. Baker lived in Mongomery county about ten years after the death of his father. In 1845 he came to Columbia and was engaged as a salesman in the employ of Wm. H. Bass. In 1847 and 1848 he was deputy sheriff under Chas. C. Maupin. He was married in 1848 to Miss Sarah Ann Gordon, daughter of George M. Gordon, of Columbia. By this union there were four children - James M., Bettie, Odon and Sallie. Odon died in infancy, all the others live in Columbia. James M. is a member of the Columbia Milling Co. Bettie is the wife of Wm. T. Anderson. Mrs. Baker died in 1861 and is buried at Colum- bia. Mr. Baker was in mercantile business from 1848 until the break-
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ing out of the war. He was sutler of the 9th Missouri cavalry dur- ing the war. In 1865 he was elected sheriff of Boone county and held the office two years. He then went to St. Louis and lived there seven years. He sold goods on the road and collected money for several firms throughout the South and West during that time. In 1875 he came back to Columbia, where he has since resided. He was a mem- ber and chairman of the board of trustees of Columbia for several years. He is now street commissioner. Mr. Baker is now working up a new enterprise in the way of an establishment for canning fruits, vegetables, etc. He has only put up comparatively small quantities, but has been very successful so far. His intention is to organize a stock company and open the business on a large scale. He uses the process employed by the Oneida community of New York.
J. W. BANKS, M. D.
Dr. J. W. Banks is a native of Tennessee, having been born in Sum- ner county of that State, September 26th, 1835. In 1836 his father removed to Missouri, settling at Tebo Grove, Lafayette county, where the subject of this sketch was reared. He attended Dr. Yantis' Insti- tute, at Brownsville, Saline county, Missouri, and the State University, graduating in 1855. 'He then read medicine under Dr. Hudson, of Kentucky, and graduated as M. D. from Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, in 1857. He then returned to Missouri and located in Lafayette county, where he practiced his profession until 1861, when he returned to Tennessee and enlisted in the Confederate army as surgeon of the 2d Tennessee regiment, with which he remained until the close of the war. He was at Shiloh, Murfreesborough, Chick- amanga, Mission Ridge, Resaca, Dallas, New Hope, Kenesaw, At- lanta, Jonesboro, Franklin, Nashville, Bentonville and many other engagements of less note. He removed the body of Gen. Polk from the battlefield at Kenesaw Mountains, and surrendered with Gen. Joe Johnston. At the close of the war he went to Texas, where he prac- ticed medicine until 1869, when he returned to Missouri, and in 1872 came to Columbia, where he has remained ever since in the active dis- charge of his professional duties. Dr. Banks was married in 1866 to Sallie Luckett, of Pettis county, a native of Kentucky and a niece of Col. McGoffin, a distinguished Confederate officer. They have five children, all living. Their names are William M., John S., Anna Mc- Goffin, Luther L. and Hiram Franklin. Mrs. Banks is a member of the Presbyterian church.
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WILLIAM HAYDEN BASS.
The subject of this sketch is a son of Eli E. and Margaret M. (John- son ) Bass, and was born January 18th, 1836, in Boone county on what is now known as the Bass homestead. He received his education at the State University and chose farming and stock raising as his o.c- cupation. He deals largely in shorthorn cattle and mules, shipping many mules to Mississippi and Louisiana. He was the originator of the Ashland stock sales, which take place the first Saturday in every month, sales running from $1,750 to $6,000. He has been a director of the Boone county agricultural and mechanical association for the past ten years, and during the years of 1880 and 1881 he was its pres- ident. He is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He was married September 11th, 1858, to Miss Irene, daughter of Wm. and Mary (Trueman) Hickman. By this union they have eight children, seven boys and one girl, all living. In May, 1882, he moved into Columbia to have better educational facilities for his children. His eldest son, Everett E., will graduate from the Uni- versity in 1883. He has a fine residence in a pleasant location on Broadway, east end. Mr. Bass is one of Boone's most thrifty, enterprising business men, and takes an interest in whatever will advance her material welfare.
J. & V. BARTH.
J. & V. Barth, the well-known proprietors of the Star clothing houses of Columbia and Mexico, Missouri, are brothers. They were born in Rhenish Prussia. Victor, the youngest of the firm, was born January 4th, 1850, and was educated both in German and Hebrew. When fifteen years old he left his native land for America, landing first in Philadelphia. From that city he came to Columbia in 1866. He engaged in clerking for a while, then peddled, selling general merchandise from house to house, travelling on horseback. In the spring of 1868, in company with his brother Joseph, opened the Star clothing house, on Broadway, where he has remained ever since. Victor Barth was married August 23d, 1876, to Miss Nettie Barth, daughter of Moses Barth, of Rocheport. They have one child, Irvin Victor, born November, 1877. Mr. Barth is a Royal Arch Mason, a K. of P., and a member of A. O. U. W. In April, 1880, the Barth Brothers opened a branch store at Mexico, Missouri. Joseph Barth has charge of this establishment. They carry a very
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large stock of ready-made clothing, and are doing a good business. Victor Barth has in his employment a corps of competent and cour- teous salesmen, among whom is Mr. Clyde Cunningham, who has been with him for seven years. He has also two of his younger brothers, Solomon and Moses.
WM. W. BATTERTON.
William Wallace Batterton was born in Boone county, August 11th, 1833. He is the son of Lemuel and Mary (Lynch) Batterton, and his father was one of the first settlers of Boone county, coming here from Kentucky in 1820. Mr. Batterton received his education in the common schools of Boone county and at the University. After leav- ing school he followed teaching for about seven years, farming at inter- vals. In 1859 Mr. Batterton was elected School Commissioner, being the first elected to that office in this county. He was removed from office in 1861 because of his refusal to take the " Gamble oath." In 1867 he was again elected school commissioner, and served one term. In the fall of 1874, he was elected county clerk of Boone county ; he was re-elected in 1878. His record while in office is an excellent one, and one of which he may well be proud.
During the civil war Mr. Batterton's sympathies were more or less with the Confederates. He was for a time, during the first year of the struggle, in Mckinney's company of the Missouri State Guards. He returned home upon the expiration of his term in the State ser- vice, and took no further active part in the war of his own free will. At the " Gosline Lane fight," in this county, in September, 1864, (see account elsewhere ) Mr. Batterton was badly wounded. He had been pressed into the service by the Federals to drive his team from Sturgeon to Rocheport, and was shot down by one of Todd's bush- whackers when the attack began. Mr. B.'s wound was through the right shoulder, and was made by a bullet from a heavy dragoon re- . volver. His life was spared only by the intervention of John Thrail- kill, who commanded one company of the guerrillas on this occasion.
August 31st, 1859, Mr. Batterton married Miss Mary Winn, of this county. Their union has been blessed with twelve children, nine of whom are still living. Mr. B. is a member of the Baptist Church. He is also a member of the following secret orders : Ma- sonic - Blue Lodge and Chapter ; Odd Fellows-Subordinate and Encampment ; Knights of Pythias and Ancient Order of United Workmen.
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HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY.
WILLIAM J. BABB. -
The father of the subject of this sketch, Rev. R. F. Babb, was a prominent Baptist minister of South Carolina, of which State he was a native, born October 26th, 1816. He married Miss Virginia A. Cooper, also a native of the Palmetto State, born October 8th, 1822. In December, 1858, Rev. R. F. Babb, with his wife and six children, removed from Abbeville district, S. C., to Audrain county, Mo. From thence he came to Boone ; then back to Audrian, and finally, in 1872, located in Columbia. His children consisted of five sons and one daughter, viz .: Joseph C. Babb (since deceased), Wm. J. Babb, James F. Babb (since deceased ), Henry B. Babb, Jerry G. Babb, and Eugie P. Babb.
Wm. J. Babb, the second son named above, and the subject of this sketch, was born in Laurens district, S. C., October 28th, 1846. He was reared on a farm, and up to the age of twenty-one his education was superintended by his father, who was a successful and prominent teacher for more than twenty years. In the year 1869, and from that. date until the year 1873, Mr. Babb was an irregular attendant at the Missouri University. He engaged in teaching, and when not em- ployed in the school-room was to be found in the halls of the Univer- sity and industriously engaged in the acquirement of those attain- ments in which he afterward became proficient and noted. In 1873 he graduated in the academic course, and in June, 1874, from the normal department. In 1873-4 he taught in the public schools of Columbia. In 1875-6 he attended the law school of the University, and in the latter year graduated as the valedictorian of the Centennial class. In the spring of the same year he was admitted to the bar .. In 1876-7 he continued teaching in Columbia.
At the November election, 1876, Mr. Babb was elected by a large majority to the position of public administrator of Boone county. The same efficiency and competency which had signalized his course as a teacher marked his conduct as an official, and so well were the people satisfied with his administration that in November, 1880, he- was re-elected for another term of four years. He is still an incum- bent of the office, which he fills to the universal satisfaction of the people. In 1878 he was elected a justice of the peace, but resigned the position in the spring of 1882, in order that he might have more time for attending to the practice of his profession and to devote to the duties of his office.
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HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY.
July 29th, 1879, Mr. Babb married Miss Minnie E. Clough, the accomplished daughter of Albert W. and Isabella Clough. Mrs. Babb graduated from Stephens College in the class of 1879, about one month before her marriage. They have one child, Albert F., born June 16th, 1880. Mr. and Mrs. Babb are members of the Baptist Church, Mr. B. dating his membership from December, 1865. At present he is the moderator of the Little Bonne Femme Association, which is composed of the Baptist churches of Audrain, Callaway and Boone counties. This position he has held for three years past, hav- ing been clerk of said body three years prior to his election as its presiding officer. Honest, upright, intelligent and capable, with a good record behind him and a bright future before him, no man has more friends in Boone county, or should be better content with his life than the gentleman whose career is here imperfectly sketched.
LEANDER G. BIGGS.
Mr. Biggs was born in Springfield, Missouri, June 4th, 1851. His parents were Seton T. and Louisa C. Biggs, the father a native of Tennessee, born March 9th, 1827, and the mother of North Carolina. They both came to Missouri when very small, and were married near Springfield, Greene county, April 13th, 1848. They have five children, four of whom survive at this writing. They continued to live in Greene county till 1861, when they moved to Jerseyville, Illinois. The senior Biggs was a carriage-maker by trade. His health so failed that, in 1877, he went to Brownsville, Mo., to try the effects of the Sweet Springs water. He died while at the springs, and lies buried at Brownsville. He died August 30th, 1877. After the death of her husband, Mrs. Biggs bought a farm three miles east of the springs, where she still resides with the three youngest children. Mary Frances and Finis E. are married. Sylvester was the name of the son who died at Palmyra, Mo. L. G. Biggs, the immediate subject of this sketch, learned his trade as carriage painter at Jerseyville, Ill., subse- quently going to St. Louis, where he learned fancy sign-writing. He was married November 21st, 1872, to Miss Lizzie E. Jones, of Gil- lespie, Ill., and a daughter of David M. and Lucinda Jones, the former still living at Gillespie, the latter dead. Mr. and Mrs. Biggs have one son and one daughter, named, respectively, Leon E. and Linnie E. For two years Mr. B. followed portrait painting. He came to Columbia, this county, on the first train that came in after the " great strike" of 1877, and has made his home here ever since. He is cer-
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tainly one of the best sign writers and ornamental painters in the State, and follows that vocation exclusively. He and wife are both members of the Methodist church, and he also belongs to the A. O. U. W. and Knights of Pythias. His education was chiefly received at Jerseyville, Illinois.
JAMES SHANNON BLACKWELL, A. M., PH. D.
Prof. Blackwell is now, and has been for four years, connected with the University in the capacity of teacher of " Hebrew and Semitic Literature and of Modern Languages." He is a native of Henderson county, Kentucky, and was born November 30th, 1844. His parents, James J. and Mary (Jeffress ) Blackwell, were natives of Virginia, and the ancestry of Prof. B. have been " to the manner born " in the Old Dominion for 200 years. Excepting the years of his collegiate course as a student, he lived in Kentucky till he came here to take his present position in the University. He graduated at Hanover College, Indiana, in 1868, with the degree of A. B .; in 1871 he took the degree of A. M., and in '76 that of Ph. D. He was made president of Ghent College, Ghent, Kentucky, in 1868, and held that position altogether for four years. Purchasing an interest in Forrest Academy, a private school at Anchorage, Kentucky, he remained there three years. Subsequently he was four years in the Kentucky Military Institute at Frankfort, having been placed in that institution by the appointment of the Governor, with the commission of major. That was the position he quit when he took his present chair in the Missouri University. As a linguist, Prof. Blackwell is a study to his friends, and even his intimates scarcely. comprehend him, so great is his gift of acquiring language. He has spoken German from childhood, and also speaks fluently French, Spanish and Italian, besides being well versed in a number of other languages. On one oc- casion, in a paper read before the American Philological Association at Cleveland, Ohio, he made quotations from upwards of twenty different languages. He took a two-years' course of Chinese from a native master, and has also studied the Egyptian and Assyrian, and is con- stantly adding to his linguistic stock by beginning the study of new ones, his latest being Arabic, which he began September 11th, 1882. His method of acquiring language is a modification (his own ) of what is known as the Hamiltonian system. He has a Bible in which the text is Hebrew, with a translation into Chaldee, and commentaries in Rabbinic. Prof. Blackwell was married July 8, 1870, to Miss
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Mary E., daughter of Milton Smith, of Ghent, Kentucky. She was a native of that State, and a niece of ex-Gov. Henry S. Lane, an U. S. Senator from Indiana. She died September 6, 1881, having. borne five children, two only of whom - Laura Cherry and Paul Preston - are living. Prof. B. is a member of the Presbyterian church, and was an elder therein while at Anchorage, Kentucky. He- is the author of quite a number of articles on language and literature, and has written several small books and pamphlets, including " Views. on the Study of Language," and "Some Observations on the Hebrew Grammar of Dr. Alexander Meyrowitz." Since the days of the " Learned Blacksmith," few men have developed more genius in, and love for, the study of language than the subject of this sketch ; and perhaps when he has attained the age at which Elihu Burritt died, he may be the peer even of that greatest of the great masters of language.
JAMES BOWLING, SR.
The subject of this sketch is one among the oldest citizens of Boone- county. He is a native of Amherst county, Virginia, where he was- born August 7th, 1797. He was educated at the public schools of his- native county. In 1828, at the age of thirty-one, he left Virginia, going to what is now known as West Virginia, where he stayed four years. In 1832 he came to Missouri, stopping for a while in Calla- way county. He next came to Boone county, aud bought a farm in the forks of Cedar, where he lived from 1833 to 1855, when he built. the house now occupied by P. H. Robnett, and in which he lived till 1866. He has followed farming all his life, and his labors have ever proved successful. He has by industry, prudence and economy accumulated a large amount of property, When quite a young man, he took charge of his father's plantation, one among the largest and most productive in the country. He had control of this property for ten years, from 1818 to 1828. He was married, November 11th, 1819, to Miss Margaret, daughter of James and Mildred (Monday) Davis. Eight children were born of this marriage, three sons and five daughters, four of whom - two of each sex - are now living. Martha A., Parmelia J. and Sallie are dead. Charles L. died in Price's army. The surviving members of the family are : Mildred, who first married Abraham Gillaspie, of Kentucky, and, being left a widow, afterwards married Wiley Roy, of Carroll county, Missouri. James D., who married Martha McAllister, of Columbia ; and Mary F., widow of the late J. L. Matthews, of Columbia, and Roderick, now of Texas. Mr.
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Bowling's father was born in St. Mary's county, Maryland, in 1752, and died in Amherst county, Virginia, in 1832. He was the father of eight children, three sons and five daughters. His wife was Laticia Gillaspie. She died in 1850, and is buried in Amherst county, Virginia.
JAMES MONROE BOSWELL.
James M. Boswell, a well known and popular business man of Columbia, was born in Bedford county, Virginia, February 14th, 1842. He is the son of William H. H. and Elizabeth A. (Compton ) Boswell. He attended school at Liberty, Virginia, commencing in 1854 and ending in 1857. He came to Boone county, Missouri, in the fall of 1858, and attended school at New Prospect Academy until the breaking out of the war, in 1861. He enlisted in Company B, of Callaway county, commanded by Maj. J. M. Robinson, being a portion of the elder Gen. John B. Clark's regiment.1 Was in the bat- tles of Wilson Creek, Drywood, Lexington, and Moore's Mill. Went to Ham's Prairie, Callaway county, Missouri, and sold goods for a short time, but owing to the excitement and troubles growing out of the war, had to quit the business. He came to Columbia, and was en- gaged to teach the public schools. He followed teaching for fifteen months, when he was employed as a salesman in the store of Kirkbride & Co., Columbia, Mo. Stayed with this firm until 1868, when he went in business with James I. Hickman, under the firm name of Hickman & Boswell, dealers in family groceries. They sold out their business in 1870 to Allen, Maupin & Co. Was elected constable of Columbia township, and served for two years and four months. After the expiration of his term as constable, he went into the family grocery business under the firm name of Smith & Boswell. He sold out this. business in 1874, and engaged as salesman with Loeb, Meyer & Co., dry goods and clothing. He stayed with this firm for four years. Quitting their store, he engaged once more in the family grocery business, this time by himself. Sold out the business, August 15th, 1881, to Hume & Brothers. Mr. Boswell owns considerable real estate in Columbia, also an excellent farm of sixty acres. He is a member of the Masonic order, also of the United Workmen. He was married, November 14th, 1872, to Miss Sarah J., daughter of Edward and Kissih (Fortney) Easley. They have two sons and two daughters : Annie W., William E., Gertrude L. and James M. Mr.
1 In the Confederate service.
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HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY.
and Mrs Boswell are both members of the Christian church. He has been an auctioneer for years, and has sold a great deal of property.
JOSHUA H. BRADY.
Joshua H. Brady, son of William and Catherine Brady, was born in Washington county, Maryland, August 5th, 1837. He was educated at a neighboring town called Hancock, and learned the miller's trade of his father, serving an apprenticeship of eight years. In 1861 he went to work for Samuel Bowles, of Washington county, Maryland, and stayed with him two years. He was next employed by William H. Eads, of Georgetown, District of Columbia, whose mill had a capacity of one hundred and fifty barrels a day. He stayed with Eads a year and a half. In 1864 he was engaged to run a mill in Morgan county, Virginia, at a point called Sir John's Run. Remained in this position for four years, then went to Sleepy Creek, same county, where he stayed six months, and from there to Frederick county, Maryland, where he entered the Red Spring Mills owned by J. M. Bushy, where he remained two years. The mill was sold to E. Zimmerman and Mr. Brady remained with him seven years. He then rented the mill at Middletown Valley, in Frederick county, Maryland, and remained in charge of this mill until the autumn of 1881, when he came to Colum- bia, Missouri, July 10th, 1882, and went to work for the Columbia Milling Company. He is a practical miller, thoroughly acquainted with every department of the business. In 1864 he was drafted into the Federal army, but by paying three hundred dollars he was ex- cused from serving. He was married, August 1st, 1865, to Hester Ann Wharton, daughter of Samuel Wharton, of Sir John's Run, West Virginia. They have six children, three of each sex : Aquila C., born February 19th, 1869 ; Katie R., born August 16th, 1871 ; George William, born March 30th, 1873 ; Annie O., born June 11th, 1875 ; Charles J., born November 25th, 1877 ; Hester M., born July 4th, 1880. They are all living.
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