USA > Missouri > Carroll County > History of Carroll County, Missouri : carefully written and compiled from the most authentic official and private sources, including a history of its townships, cities, towns and villages, together with a condensed history of Missouri ; the Constitution of the United States, and State of Missouri ; a military record of its volunteers in either army of the Great Civil War ; general and local statistics ; miscellany ; reminiscences, grave, tragic and humorous ; biographical sketches of prominent men and citizens identified with the interests of the country > Part 56
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75
brave soldier returned to his post of duty. When the army fell back as far as Osceola, at that place he was too sick to travel and was left at that place. His son Franklin visited him and found that Osceola was threat- ened by Gen. Jim Lane and jayhawkers. He brought him home and after partially recovering he attended to the business of Hill & Trotter, Mr. Trotter having died during Col. Hill's absence. About the time he had recovered from his sickness, Gen. Benjamin Prentiss with 1,500 infan- try and cavalry was making his way down the Missouri river. Col. Hill, with a number of other citizens, thought it prudent to cross the river on the 16th of December, 1861, to meet troops crossing at Brunswick, and others gathering in Saline county. On the 19th they were captured near Kirkpatrick's mill, on Blackwater, in Johnson county, by Gen. Baker, commanding Iowa troops. Col. Hill's son Joseph was with him. They were all marched to Sedalia, and shipped to St. Louis in open stock cars and marched to McDowell College, then a federal prison. Confinement, inability, unventilated room, was too much for one, whose custom had been to have open and fresh air, and Col. Hill soon yielded and became a prey to typhoid fever. His old friend, James E. Yeatman, seeing his condition, procured his release and that of his son, Joseph. They were removed to the Olive street hotel, on the 20th day of January, 1862, and on the 24th Col. Hill died. His remains were sent home, and all that is now mortal of a good, brave man has become part and parcel of the soil of Carroll-the county of his adoption, where his name for years to come will be revered by old and young. No man's history will be of more interest to Carroll county, and his descendents can point to his name, when it shall be seen on the pages of the history of the county, with pride and learn to imitate his virtues. He was a. warm and affectionate hus- band and father, and a kind and indulgent friend. His hand was ever open to relieve distress, contributing liberally to every public enterprise for the good and advancement of the county. Col. Hill, in early life, became a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, also his wife, in 1845 or '46. He, with his wife, became members of the Christian church, under the ministry of Elder Thomas Gaines. His widow is still living in Carrollton. Five sons, Franklin, in Montana, James, William, Joseph and
501
HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
Charles in Carroll county, and ' one daughter, Mrs. Ella Bills, now of Denver, Colorado, are his children. Col. Hill's height was 5 ft. 10 in., with a well-knit frame, a steady eye, a full face, a broad chin, quick, firm step, giving every indication ever to a stranger that he was no ordinary man.
MAJOR CHARLES STERNE.
The subject of this notice was born in Stafford county in the good old state of Virginia on the 15th day of April, 1804; was the fourth son of Capt. John Sterne-his mother nee Miss Samuels, of Caroline county, of the same state. He belongs to an ancient family who resided on the same old Homestead (Rose Hill) to the fifth generation. A married daughter was the first to leave the county of Stafford, whose husband came to Missouri, and in a few years died in Howard county. Her brother, John Y. Sterne came west to remove his sister and family back to Virginia. While here he became acquainted with a Miss Fannie Collins. He returned to Missouri and was married to her and remained here. In the year 1830 the subject of this notice came to Missouri on a visit, remained here twelve months, returned to Virginia and in 1832 married Miss Mary Brent Blackwell, and in the fall of the same year moved to Ohio, made a crop in Adams county and in the fall of 1833 came to Missouri. By this marriage had two children to be grown, a daughter and son-and removed from Howard to Carroll county, in 1840. Soon after the death of his wife he married a second time. After coming to Carroll his daughter was married to Mr. Isaac O. Herndon, who lived but a few years, leaving an only daughter to inherit a very handsome estate left at the death of her grandfather. . His son was a noble young man-kind, brave and generous; was lieutenant in the first cavalry company that left this county, in 1861, under Gen. Price, and when the home guards were disbanded he re-enlisted and was elected to the same position and trans- ferred to the trans-Mississippi department, and received a mortal wound at the two days' fight of Corinth. He died in a few days. His remains fill an unknown grave. Major Sterne was a large man, full six feet and two inches high, of a cheerful disposition, enjoyed the society of friends; was charitable, kind and devoted to his church (Presbyterian). He left a widow in feeble health, who died soon after her widowhood.
JUDGE THOMAS ARNOLD;
was born in Scott county, Kentucky, on the second day of June, 1796. In early life his parents moved and settled permanently in the county of Harrison, in the town of Cynthiana. He served an appenticeship to the cabinet business when nineteen years of age. He volunteered as a soldier in the war of 1812, company commanded by Capt. M. Forest, in the reg-
502
HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
iment of Col. Porter, of Harrison county, who crossed Lake Erie and was at the battle of Upper Grand River in Canada, and in several other engagements and skirmishes. After the campaign in March, 1815, he returned home. Some years after the close of the war he removed to Huntsville in the state of Alabama, and in the year following was mar- ried to Mariah, daughter of Capt. Smith. Four years after his marriage he returned to Kentucky, where he was soon elected constable and served several years as such; was deputy sheriff of Harrison county in 1832; Moved to the state of Missouri and settled in Carroll, county in what is now known as Rockford township. In 1833 was judge of the county which position he held for 20 years. At the age of twenty-two years he was made a master mason in Huntsville and at the age of twenty-six took the degree of royal arch in Cynthiana, and in said chapter was asso- ciated with such distinguished masons as Stephen D. W. Carnegy, who served as grand master of grand lodge of Missouri, Gov. Deshea, Hon. Mr. Coleman, member of congress, and other distinguished men of Ken- tuky. He was a charter member of Wakanda lodge, No. 52 and of George Washington chapter, No. 34, of Carrollton, Mo. His personal appearance was six feet two inches in height, very erect and remarkably neat in his dress, very courteous in manners and warmly attached to friends. A whig in politics in early life until 1855, and when the whig party was swallowed up with the know-nothing party, he became asso- ciated with the democratic party in which he lived and died.
COL. JAMES A. PRITCHARD.
In the spring of 1852, James Avary Pritchard, emigrated from Boone county, Kentucky, to Carroll county, Missouri; bought a tract of land about five miles north of Carrollton and settled on it. Afterward he sold this tract of land, and after a year's residence in Carrollton he purchased a large farm in the eastern part of the county, near DeWitt, to which he removed. He was born in Bourbon County, Kentucky, on the 25th of December, 1816. His ancestors were Virginians, of the old cavalier stock, his paternal grandfather after whom he was named, being a soldier in the revolutionary war, and one of the heroes of the battle of Cowpens. His mother was a Miss America Grimes, and first cousin to the illustrious Gen. Stonewall Jackson. Unfortunately he lost his mother before he was fourteen years old, and his father contracting a second marriage not a great while afterwards, he was thrown on his own resources, from that time on. Gifted with indomitable energy, courage and self-reliance, un- aided save by the God of the orphan, he fought his own way to true, and glorious manhood. There never was a boy; or man, so little subject to temptation as James A. Pritchard. Surrounded often at different periods of his life, by many and great temptations, they had no power over his
503
HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
life or character, and left them untainted-unblemished, by any vice what- ever. While quite young, he united with the Christian Church, and in 1853 was appointed one of the elders of the congregation in . Carrollton, which position he held until his death. In 1847, being then sheriff of Boone county, Kentucky, in response to a call on Kentucky for more troops for the Mexican war, he raised a company of over a hundred men and enlisted in the army. . The company of which he was Captain, was enrolled as company D. third regiment, Kentucky volunteer infantry, Mirlins V. Thompson Colonel, of. the regiment. John C. Breckenridge General of the Brigade. They were ordered to the City of Mexico, and for several months, held their headquarters in the halls of the Montezumas, remaining in the service until the close of the war, when they were honor- ably discharged on the 21st of July 1848. On the 5th of October 1848, Col. Pritchard was married to Miss M. F. Williamson, daughter of Col. John Williamson of Petersburgh, Boone County, Kentucky. In the fol- lowing spring, he was seized as were many others, with the epidemical gold fever then prevailing over the country, and made the overland trip to California, leaving his home in Kentucky, on the 10th of April 1849, and arriving in California on the 11th of the ensuing August. He remained in California nearly two years, subject to many vicissitudes while there, and was joyfully greeted at his Kentucky home on the 2d of March 1851.
It was during his stay in the Golden State, that meeting with several gentlemen from Missouri, and becoming warmly attached to them, that lie formed the resolution to pitch his tent in the grand Missouri prairies. Col. Pritchard's career in Carroll county is well known to all who resided in the county, in antibellum days.
While pursuing the usual avocation of an energetic, enterprising far- mer, he was at. the same time ever ready to contribute both his services and his means for the promotion of every public enterprise for the gen- eral good. In 1858 he was elected to the state legislature over Col. Stephen Stafford, one of his warmest personal friends. He served his constituents to the best of his ability through the three rather stormy sessions during which he sat in that body.
A southern man by birth, education and principles, when the civil war broke out he very naturally embraced the cause of the south, and served under Gen. Sterling Price, first as lieutenant colonel and afterward a colonel of the third regiment, Missouri volunteer infantry. No man, north or south, ever regretted the dismemberment and strife of his coun- try more than he. But when the die was cast no one ever did what he deemed his duty more faithfully. In one of his letters from the army he says: " You well know there has been a dark, gloomy cloud of fore- boding hanging over my mind for several years in regard to my coun- try. I have resisted disunion in every shape that it has presented itself.
504
HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
But the crisis has been forced upon us, and we must make the best of it we can." And'again: "I feel that this is a just and holy cause we are engaged in, and that it is my indispensable duty to be here. In fact, I would hate myself if I were anywhere else. Could I be base enough to desert my country, in this, her hour of danger, I feel that the curse of heaven would beset my path with thorns at every turn in life. . This may be a mistaken view of the subject, but it is. my religious and consci- entious view of it; if I am mistaken I hope God will forgive me." I insert these extracts merely to show the sentiments and principles that actuated him in the last great enterprise of his life. He left home for the army on the 18th of fune, 1861 .. Sometimes there is, something in a mere date that thrills the human heart to its core. As I sit here this mournful autumn eve, gathering up these fragments of the past, as that date drops from my pen, a curtain is slowly lifted from a sacred picture hanging in memory's halls. I see a mansion looming up amid waving forest trees. Flowers are blooming around it, for it is the month of roses. The air is musical with the songs of thousands of wild birds. Canaries are trilling in their cages. Squirrels run up and down the trees, or bask contentedly in the sunshine; for in that home everything is pro- tected-no wanton gun is ever drawn on bird or squirrel, so everything grows tame and happy. It is a breezy summer morn, and in the wide hall of that mansion a weeping group are gathered to bid husband, friend and kind, indulgent master farewell. His features work convulsively, for he has a tender, loving heart, yet a firm resolve is on his brow as he takes the hands ' one after another of the faithful servants, over whose dusky cheeks the tears are streaming, bids adieu to another, dear as his life, and turns his back upon his home-his beautiful Rosewild, little as he thought so then-to return no more. For never again were the quiet shades of Rosewild brightened by his presence.
With this digression we will drop the curtain again (seldom has it been lifted to mortal eye), and resume our narrative. On the tenth of the following August, in the battle of Springfield, or as some call it, Oak Hill, Colonel Pritchard had three horses shot from under him, receiving himself a slight wound in the thigh. He was a skillful commander and brave and cool in battle, his men unhesitatingly following where he led. He commanded the universal respect of his brother officers, and the unlimited confidence and affection of his soldiers. Passing through many gory battles, and coming off the field unscathed, although his clothing would sometimes be pierced with bullet holes, he seemed for a time to bear a charmed life. But unfor- tunately in the battle of Corinth, on the fourth of October, 1862, after leading his regiment over an abattis half a mile in depth, charging and taking a battery; while waving his sword, and cheering his troops, he received a wound in his left shoulder from a minnie ball, from which he
505
HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
died near Coffeeville, Mississippi, on the twentieth day of October, 1862. In a lone graveyard near the little village of Coffeeville, three heroes, Lieut- Col. Hubbel, Capt. J. W. Kemper and Col. James A. Pritchard, sleep side by side the last dreamless sleep of death. Col: Pritchard's wife, upon learning her husband was wounded, hastened to his side, passing through the lines, braving many dangers, hoping to reach her husband while life remained to him, but too late. Ere the wife could reach him her husband had passed to the great beyond, and her tears could but fall on the grave of one of Misrouri's noblest men.
COMPTON TOWNSHIP. JOHN C. BAKER,
son of Archibald and Mary J. Baker, nee Morris, natives of Coshocton county, Ohio, was born August 28, 1852. His early life was spent on a farm, going to Illinois when yet small, and remaining till he was eighteen. He traveled extensively through Iowa and Nebraska, and in 1871, settled in Carroll county, where he has since remained, following farming. In the spring of 1881, with Coleman Hubbard, bought out a dry goods and general merchandizing establishment at Little Compton, where they are now doing business. . On the 25th day of March, he was married to Miss Sarah A., daughter of Ralph and Hannah J. Farr, natives of Ohio. Two children, Frank and Bert, bless their union. Mr. Baker is a Baptist, and his wife a Methodist.
RALPH FARR,
was born April 11, 1826, in Portage county, Ohio, and is a son of Kimball Farr, a native of Massachusetts, and Ruth Farr, nee Gregory, of Ken- tucky. At the age of fourteen he went to Butler county, Ohio, where he resided about ten years, working on a farm. He went to Porter county, Indiana, and soon after to California, remaining about two years. Return- ing to Indiana, he bought a farm. From there he went to Iowa, and pre- empted a claim in Franklin county, that state, and returned to Indiana. In 1867 he came to Carroll county, where he has since resided, and fol- lowed farming. He has a coal mine on his farm, which he is working extensively. He was married the 11th of January, 1850, to Miss Hannah J., daughter of Aaron and Mary C. Surris, of Richland county, Ohio. By this marriage they have five children : Cornelia J., now Mrs. Bellow; Sarah A., now Mrs. J. C. Baker; Elzie L., Albia C., and Carl D. Mr. and Mrs. Farr are members of the Baptist Church.
:506
HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
JOHN J. CALLAWAY,
was born in Howard county, Missouri, on the 10th of December, 1826, and came to Carroll county in 1839. He is a son of Ambrose and Susan Callaway. His early life was spent in this county, on a farm. On the 28th of November, 1854, he married Miss Eliza, a daughter of Rev. Elijah Jeffries, a Free Will Baptist, who came to this county in 1850, from Ken- tucky. Mr. Callaway resided in this county until September, 1859, when they moved to Texas, returning to Carroll in July of the following year, when he bought a grist and saw-mill, at the old Compton ferry, which he run until the spring of 1865. He purchased a farm and improved it, in Compton township, and died on the 2d of July, 1871. His widow survives him, and his children, seven in number, are Bettie J., Ambrose, Jeft D., Mildred L., Sarah A., John H., and. Richard E. Mrs. Callaway resides still on the home place, and is a member of the Baptist Church.
JOHN R. PATTESON.
J. R. Patteson is a son of Allen D. and Julia Patteson, formerly Julia Miller, of Kentucky, and was born in Adair county, that state, on the 24th of October, 1828. He resided in the place of his nativity until 1850, when he came to Carroll county, Missouri, settling in Sugar Tree township, moving to his present location in 1861, where he owns one hundred acres of land, following the avocation of farming and stock-raising. He was married on the 31st of October, 1858, to Miss Mary F., a daughter of Ambrose and Susan Callaway, of Kentucky. Ambrose Callaway was killed by Col. Morgan's men, on the 18th of October, 1861, at his home, on section nineteen, Hurricane township. Mrs. Patteson's grandfather was a soldier in the revolutionary war, and was a prisoner five years with the British forces. Her grandfather Jackson was one of the earliest settlers of Kentucky .. The Indians captured his son William, and adopted him, making him a chief. He married an Indian woman, and had his children educated at Lexington, Kentucky: The subject of this notice came to Missouri in 1839, and has been engaged at farming. He is the father of six children, five of whom are living, namely: Nannie T., Congrave C., Katie N, William H., and Susan F. Mr. and Mrs. Patteson are members of the Baptist Church.
LEVEN COMER.
Mr. Comer was born in Greenbriar county, Virginia, the 21st of Janu- ary, 1819, and is a son of Archibald and Sarah Comer, nee Benson, also of Virginia. His early life was passed in his native place, and at the age of nineteen he went to Ohio, where he remained until 1865, when he came to Carroll county, Mo. He is a farmer and stock raiser, and owns a
507
HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
farm of three hundred acres of fine land. He was married in Sept. 1839, to Miss Rachael, daughter of Dr. Gabriel H. and Elizabeth McNeil. Three children blessed this union, one only, Martha, now Mrs. John D. Ray, living. Mrs. Comer also passed away on August 14, 1878. John D. Ray husband of Martha Comer, was born in Morgan county, Ohio, on the 25th of January 1852. He came to this county in March 1865, and was married April 8, 1877. Two children, William M. and Ethel E. bless the union. Mr. Ray follows farming, and they are members of the Missionary Baptist church, Mr. Comer and family being members of the M. E. Church.
JOHN HOWARD,
was born in England on the 12th of September, 1823. He is a son of Edward and Rachael Howard, nee Mulbry. His younger days or until eighteen years of age, he spent in his native isle, coming to the United States in 1852, having spent the intervening time on the domain of Neptune as a sailor. In 1855, he found his way to Carroll county, and located in Compton township, where he still resides. He has, by industry and fugality acquired one hundred acres of land, and has made farming his vocation. During the war he was in the confederate service. In December 1859, he led Miss Helen, a daughter of Lewis and Elizabeth Broyles to the altar, the union being blessed with four children, namely: Susan A. now Mrs. Owen, Robert M., John E. and Tudie. Mr. and Mrs. Howard are members of the Baptist church.
JEFFERSON GALLAHER,
was born on the 5th day of December 1825, in East Tennessee, and is a son of Alexander and Nancy Gallaher, of North Carolina. Until the age of twenty-four he spent his time at the place of his nativity, farming. He first came to Lynn county. Missouri, where he resided until 1865, when he came to Chariton, remaining until 1869, when he came to Carroll where he now resides, and owns one hundred and twenty acres of land; dividing his time between his farm and his drug and grocery store in Lit- tle Compton. On the 1st day of December, 1846, he married Miss Elizabeth, daughter of James and Sarah Ailor, which marriage is blessed by the following children: Vanda Lee, now Mrs. Odell, William P., Sarah E., John B., James M., Nancy J. and Charles J. The county court having special confidence in the ability of Mr. Gallaher, appointed him a instice of the peace for Compton township. They are members of the M. E. Church.
BURNOIT WOODS,
son of Rev. Sarshel Woods, was born in Howard county, Missouri, on the 23d of April, 1828. His father, Sarshel Woods, was a native of Ken-
.
508
HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
tucky, and came to Carroll County in 1834. He was the first minister that located permanently in the county, and was especially active in rid- ding the county of Mormonism. The mother of the subject of this sketch. was a Miss Elizabeth Warren, of Tennesse, and is now seventy- nine years old. Mr. Woods was but seven years old when he came to this county, and passed through all the hardships incident to pioneer life. In 1846 he enlisted in company K, Price's regiment, 2d Missouri mounted volunteers, and went to Mexico, remaing till 1847, when he returned. In 1848 he returned with a train to Mexico, and in 1850 he went to Cali- fornia and Oregon, remaining seven years, returning in 1857. In 1864 he enlisted in company E, Williams' regiment, serving to the. close of the war, since which time he has lived in Compton, following farming. On the 16th day of September, 1858, he married Miss Dicy Patteson, a daughter of Allen and Julia Patteson, of Kentucky. Mr. Woods is a Cumberland Presbyterian, believing in the faith of his father, while Mrs. Woods is a Baptist. He is a member of Wakanda Lodge, No. 52, A. F. and A. M., and is a strong greenbacker.
EGYPT TOWNSHIP. JESSE T. J. CRAIG.
Jesse T. J. Craig was born on the 6th day of October, 1851, in Ray county, Missouri. His father, John Craig, was a leading farmer of that county, and our subject spent the earlier years of his life in such employ- ment as is usual with the sons of farmers. At the age of nineteen, hav- ing completed the course of study at Richmond college with much credit to himself, Mr. Craig commenced the study of law in the office of Judge Nathaniel Bannister, at that time a leading member of the Richmond bar. After prosecuting his studies for two years he was admitted, in the year 1872, to the practice of his chosen profession, and followed that busi- ness for one year at Richmond, Missouri, and then removed to Norborne, Carroll county, where he continued the practice of law in connection with school teaching until the spring of 1881, when he purchased and assumed the management and editorial control of the Independent, a weekly news- paper, founded at Norborne in the year of 1876, by Colonel J. T. Child, .editor and proprietor of the Richmond Conservator. The Independent is very ably conducted by Mr. Craig, who meets with support and material encouragement from the intelligent and reading citizens of Norborne and vicinity. This paper, as its name indicates, is non-partisan in politics, and is published for the whole people of the county, and in their interests. In politics, Mr: Craig is a democrat, and a gentleman of comprehensive
509
HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
and liberal views upon the leading topics of the day. He is awake to the resources and advantages of Carroll county, and active in their advance- ment and development. Mr. Craig was married on the 24th day of August, 1880, to Miss Bettie K. Donahue, an estimable and accom- plished lady of Norborne. Mr. Craig is a pleasant, genial and clever gentleman, and a leading and public spirited citizen of the thriving little city in which he resides.
C. JAMES J. MARTYR.
The subject of this sketch was born in Madras, British India, on the fourth day of January, 1838. His father, Joseph Martyr, was a staff offi- cer in the service of the British Crown in the East Indies, and died there soon after the birth of our subject. His mother returned to England with her infant son and was subsequently married to Rev. John Morgan, rector of parish Pyecombe in the county of Sussex, by whom James was reared. The foundation of James' education was laid in England where he attended an excellent academy and finished at Dieppe college, France, whither he went for the purpose of familiarizing himself with the French language. At the age of sixteen years he went to the island of Hayti in the West Indies, and clerked for some time in a large mercantile house there. In 1856 he returned to England and, having secured letters of recommenda- tion and credit to parties in the city of New York, sailed for the United States in June of the same year, 1856. He engaged as clerk in several establishments, at different times until 1865, when he went back to Eng- land and studied the art of photography in the city of London for two years. In June, 1867, he came again to America and worked at the avo- cation of a photographer in the States of New York, New Jersey, Connec- ticut and Missouri. He came to Carroll county in 1872 and located first at the city of Carrollton, where he remained two years and then removed to Norborne. He soon after went back to Carrollton and worked at his calling in that place until July, 1874, when he settled permanently at Nor- borne. He has built up a very good business at that place and is popular with all who know him on account of his polite and courteous manner and the fair and honorable way in which he treated all his patrons. He is a member of the Masonic Fraternity and also of the A. O. U. W. at Nor- borne.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.