USA > Missouri > Cass County > History of Cass County, Missouri > Part 27
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R. W. Adams received his education in the public schools of Pleasant Hill and St. James Military Academy, Macon, Missouri, and at the age of seventeen he began his banking career as a bookkeeper in the Bank of Macon, Macon, Missouri. A few years later, when the bank of Kings- ville, at Kingsville, Missouri, was organized, he became its cashier and served in that capacity about five years. In 1894 he came to Harrison- ville, and organized the Cass County Bank and served as it cashier until
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September, 1900. At that time the Allen Banking Company bought the Cass County Bank and Mr. Adams became cashier of the Allen Banking Company until December, 1913, when he became president, and since that time he has capably filled that position.
Mr. Adams was married in 1901 to Nettie L. Beatty, of Harrison- ville. He is a York Rite Mason and a member of the Mystic Shrine and the Legion of Honor, and he belongs to the Episcopal Church.
Although primarily a banker, Mr. Adams is interested in other com- mercial institutions, and is president of the Cass County Telephone Com- pany. He is public spirited and progressive, although at the same time possessing a safe degree of conservatism which is the safety valve of successful banking.
William P. Franse, now deceased, was a Cass County pioneer who came to Missouri with his parents when he was a child. He was born in Lee County, Virginia, in 1837, a son of John and Maryann (Duff) Franse, both natives of Virginia, the former of German and the latter of English descent. The Franse family came to Missouri in 1837 when William P. was about six months old, and located in Jackson County. In 1839 they came to Cass County and settled in Grand River township, six miles south- west of Harrisonville. Their first home was a pioneer log cabin. They were among the very first settlers in this section and the father, John Franse, was prominently identified with the early development of Cass County. He served as justice of the peace for a number of years and was known as "Squire Franse". He and his wife spent the remainder of their lives where they first settled in Grand River township.
William P. Franse grew to manhood in Cass County and received his education in the pioneer public schools. When the Civil War broke out he enlisted in Capt. Amos S. Bradley's company, which was officially known as Company I, Eleventh Missouri Infantry, and served in the Confederate Army under General Price and Kirby Smith until the close of the war. He was a good soldier and won distinction on many a hard-fought battle field. At the close of the war he returned to his farm in Grand River township and spent the remainder of his life en- gaged principally in farming and stock raising and met with uniform success. He was a progressive man and a good citizen and was one of the well-to-do farmers and stockmen of Cass County. He was engaged in freighting for a time and in that capacity made two trips across the plains. He was a staunch democrat, although he never aspired to hold political office. He died April 17, 1913.
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Mr. Franse was united in marriage April 19, 1874, to Miss Nancy Catherine Crosswhite. She was born in Campbell County, Tennessee, in Powell's Valley, and is a daughter of William L. and Elizabeth (Shown) Crosswhite, natives of Johnson County, Tennessee, the former of Eng- lish descent, and the latter of English and Scotch-Irish extraction. The Crosswhite family were early settlers in Missouri, coming to this state in 1854, when Mrs. Franse was six years old. They drove through from Tennessee to Gentry County, Missouri, with ox teams and were fifty-two days enroute. There were twenty-one families who came at the same time, which formed quite a colony. In 1866, the Crosswhite family came to Cass County, where they resided about ten years, when they removed to Linn County, Kansas, settling near Parker. The father served in the Union Army, under General Sherman. The parents died at their home in Linn County.
To William P. Franse and wife were born the following children: Albert Sidney, traveling man, Kansas City, Missouri; Capitola, married Arthur Yohe, resides in Grand River township; John William, Tallaqua, Oklahoma; Harry G., Ajo, Arizona; and Vernon Rufus, resides on the home farm with his mother.
By a former marriage, to Mary Salina Grimshaw, of Marion County, Missouri, there was born one child to Mr. Franse, Roberd Edmond Lee, who was in New Orleans, Louisiana, the last heard from. Mr. Franse's first wife died in 1873.
The Franse family are members of the Baptist Church, as was also Mr. Franse. They are one of the representative pioneer families of Cass County.
Robert Lansden Foster was born May 25, 1834, in Wilson County, Tennessee, and died at Harrisonville, Missouri, March 11, 1917. `His life spanned the most interesting history of this country. He came of hardy pioneer stock. In early manhood he moved to Illinois with his parents. After a short stay there he removed to Missouri, settling near Chilhowee, in Johnson County.
In 1857 Mr. Foster married Mary Elizabeth Holloway, a daughter of a pioneer settler of Cass County, where he entered into mercantile business. From this date he was practically a resident of this county, although at times temporarily at other places for good reasons. From the date of this settlement among us he became closely identified with the history of the county. His first store was located where Will Clem-
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ments' hardware store now is. In a short period of time he formed a partnership with Frank Tucker in the drug business. This enterprise lasted but a short time, as the war being on, he lost everything. After the loss of this store property and the death of his partner, he removed to Illinois.
At the close of the war, Mr. Foster returned to Harrisonville, where he opened a grocery store. This he continued, part of the time by him- self, and part of the time in partnership with his father-in-law, Thomas Holloway. The store was located on the east side of the square, where the William G. Parsons store now is. In 1901 he retired from business, his son succeeding him. He remained a resident of Harrisonville to the day of his death.
Mr. Foster was, from early boyhood, a Cumberland Presbyterian in faith, and democrat in politics. During his younger and more active days he was a faithful attendant upon the meetings of the Masonic fra- ternity. He was a member of Cass Lodge, No. 147, A. F. and A. M. All his life he was true to the principals he espoused. A man who did his own thinking, of strong convictions, he was of great force in the forma- tive period of the early settlement of the county. His advice was sought on questions involving the political, social and religious welfare of the community. He left surviving his widow and four children. These children, without exception, are valuable adjuncts to the states and coun- ties where they make their homes. Such is briefly the life history of one of the most useful of our pioneer settlers.
Peter S. Clemments, now deceased, was a very early pioneer of Cass County, and was prominent in the early settlement and development here. He was a native of Virginia and came to Cass County when he was twenty-two years old. He was a carpenter in early life, having learned the trade in his native state, but after coming to Cass County he followed farming, principally, and met with success.
Peter S. Clemments was married December 15, 1857, to Sarah M. Holloway. She is a native of Monroe County, Tennessee, and a daughter of William and Mary (Peck) Holloway, also natives of Tennessee, the former of Blount County and the latter in Jefferson County. They came to Cass County in 1842, and thus it will be seen they were very early set- tlers in this section of Missouri. They located on the Tennessee branch of the Grand River, where the father pre-empted governmnt land and the parents spent the remainder of their lives here. William Holloway
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enlisted in the home guards for service during the Mexican War, but his company was never called to the front He died October 2, 1852, aged forty-two years, and his wife departed this life December 10, 1888, aged seventy-three years. William Holloway was a grandson of Barnes Hollo- way, a native of Virginia, who served on General Washington's Staff during the Revolutionary War, and Nichols Peck, maternal grandfather of Mrs. Clemments, was a soldier in the Black Hawk War. Nicholas Peck later came to Cass County and died here at the age of eighty-eight years.
To Peter Clemments and wife were born the following children: Mary A., married Horace Baker Moody, now deceased, a sketch of whom appears in this volume; Charles E., Harrisonville, Missouri; W. H., hardware dealer, Harrisonville, Missouri; Thomas W., merchant, Fre- donia, Kansas; Dora B., married W. B. Scruggs, Harrisonville, Missouri; Frank E., deceased; and Mattie A., married Charles E. McCracken, St. Louis, Missouri.
Peter S. Clemments died in 1904, and his widow now resides at Har- risonville. She is the possessor of unusual mental and physical vigor for one of her years, and has a store of valuable reminiscences concerning the early history of Cass County, which she relates in an interesting and entertaining way. The Clemments family is one of the prominent old pioneer families of Cass County and rank as leading and representative citizens.
A. S. Pulliam came to what is now Cass County and settled upon the Pulliam homestead in 1839. This he afterwards entered from the gen- eral government, and it is still owned by the family. On this land he built a log cabin, which is still standing, and occupied by one of the sons. In this early day his town was Lick-Skillet, located on Lick Branch. The name was derived from its being a famous deer lick. Of these very early settlers, little can be gathered with any degree of certainty.
Mr. Pulliam has a son, L. Bert Pulliam, living in this county, in the old log cabin, with some addition to the original plan. Another son, Joseph Pulliam, lives in Bates County, Missouri. The other members of the family have dropped from the writer's memory. The writer's father held Squire "A. S. Pulliam" in the highest esteem. Always allud- ing to him in the very highest terms of praise. They settled in the county (Van Buren), now Cass, in the same year and remained staunch friends until death parted them.
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Charles E. Allen, president of the Citizens National Bank of Harrison- ville, is the dean of the banking fraternity of Cass County and belongs to a family of pioneer bankers. Mr. Allen is a native of Missouri, born in St. Louis, July 6, 1854. He is a son of Lewis L. L. and Corinna J. (Potter) Allen, both natives of Missouri, the former of Jackson, Cape Girardeau County, and the latter of St. Louis. The father was a pioneer banker of Missouri and followed the banking business practically all his life, mostly at Pierce City, where he died March 8, 1917 at the advanced age of ninety- one years. He engaged in the banking business at Pierce City in 1870 and was the founder of the Lawrence County Bank, which is still doing business and is one of the substantial financial institutions of that sec- tion. When Lewis Allen located at Pierce City and engaged in the bank- ing business, that town was the terminus of the Frisco railroad. The town was new and the main street was more or less obstructed by stumps.
Charles E. Allen is one of the family of three children born to his parents. The others are as follows: Lewis L., who was engaged in the banking business with his father for a number of years and is now in the real estate and loan business at Pierce City ; and Isabella who resides at Boulder, Colorado.
Mr. Allen was reared in St. Louis and attended the public schools and Washington University in that city. When sixteen years of age he came to Harrisonville and entered the employ of his uncle, William H. Allen, who was then conducting a bank here. William H. Allen was the pioneer banker of Harrisonville and was the founder of the Allen Bank which still bears his name. He died in 1884. After coming to Harrisonville, Charles E. Allen remained in the employ of his uncle as bookkeeper for three months when he went to Pierce City and entered the employ of his father's bank where he remained until 1874. He then returned to Harrisonville and was employed in the Allen Bank again for three years. In 1877 he returned to Pierce City and remained in the Lawrence County Bank until 1888. He then came back to Harrisonville again and this has been his home ever since. He entered Judge Givan's law office as clerk and thoroughly mastered stenography, becoming an expert court stenographer, and for seven years that he was associated with Judge Givan as law clerk, he reported cases in the courts of Cass, Johnson, Bates and Henry counties.
In 1895 Mr. Allen became cashier of the Allen Bank. Five years later this institution was reorganized and the present management assumed control. In 1902, Mr. Allen, with the assistance of Judge Givan, D. K. Hall, Downing Miller and others organized the Citizens National Bank,
CHARLES E. ALLEN.
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and Mr. Allen became cashier, Judge Givan, president, and Downing Miller, vice-president. Mr. Allen served in the capacity of cashier con- tinuously from the organization of the bank until January, 1917, when he was elected president of the institution, and continues in the active man- agement of its affairs. The Citizens National Bank of Harrisonville is the oldest National Bank in Cass County and the only National Bank in Harrisonville.
Mr. Allen was united in marriage October 3, 1883, with Miss Belle Givan, only daughter of Judge Noah M. Givan, of Harrisonville, a sketch of whom appears in this volume. To Mr. and Mrs. Allen have been born one son, Charles Givan, assistant cashier of the Citizens National Bank. He married Miss Lora Akin of Harrisonville, and they have one child, George Monroe, age three years.
In addition to his banking interests, Mr. Allen is secretary and treas- urer of the Austin Inland Telephone Company, which is one of the important industrial institutions of the county. Mr. Allen is a member of the Congregational church and for twenty-five years has been secretary of the Cass County Sunday School Association and has many friends in this county, both from a social and business standpoint.
J. F. Hooley, a prominent grocer of Pleasant Hill, Missouri, is a native of Ohio. He was born at Wooster in 1863, and is a son of David and Lydia (Zook) Hooley, the former a native of Pennsylvania, and the latter of Ohio. They were the parents of the following children: Amandus, Wooster, Ohio; David, Cleveland, Ohio; Mrs. Jemima Mast, Millersburg, Ohio; J. F., the subject of this sketch; Simon, Goshen, Indiana; George, Oyster Point, Virginia; Lydia, died at the age of two years; and Mary, died at the age of twenty.
J. F. Hooley was reared and educated in Ohio, and in 1883, when he was twenty years of age, came to Missouri. He worked on a farm about a year after coming to this state, and then was employed in a mill at Gunn City, Missouri, for two years. He then entered the employ of George Wildeboor, a merchant at Garden City, at a salary of twenty- five dollars per month. He remained with Mr. Wildeboor for six years, when he entered the employ of T. S. Hutton as clerk, and remained with him until Mr. Hutton disposed of his business to Garman & Son, and Mr. Hooley remained with the new firm for two years. He then engaged in the general mercantile business at Garden City, and one year latter, 1910, came to Pleasant Hill and purchased the Elmer Faulkner grocery
(22)
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business, which he conducted for four years, when he sold it to Mr. Faulkner, the original owner. Mr. Hooley then opened a variety store, to which he has since added a grocery department. His store is located in the Smith block, on Lake Avenue, which is one of the desirable busi- ness locations of the city, and where he has built up an extensive trade.
Mr. Hooley was united in marriage in 1890 with Miss Lucy, a daughter of J. N. and Martha Cummins, of Gunn City, Missouri. To Mr. and Mrs. Hooley have been born two children, Ila May, a Cass County teacher; and Lester, a student in the Pleasant Hill High School. Mr. Hooley is one of the progressive and enterprising merchants of Cass County, and his method of square dealing is well known to the many patrons of his busy mercantile establishment.
Horace Baker Moody, now deceased, was prominently identified with the commercial interests of Harrisonville during his life-time. He was born in Mason township, Cass County, Michigan, in 1853, and was a son of Ethan Allen and Eccleann (Hatch) Moody, natives of New England. The father was born January 21, 1798, in Lollanel, Massachusetts. He was a second cousin of Dwight L. Moody. He came to Ohio sometime in the 20's, and was married about 1830. In 1848 he moved to Michigan The mother died December 21, 1865, and shortly afterwards the father removed to Elkhart, Indiana, where he was retired until his death. He died December 26, 1881.
Horace Baker Moody was one of four children, Phoebe Ann, deceased ; Andrew J., Elkhart; Eathan A., deceased; and Horace B. He was reared to manhood in Indiana and educated in the public schools of Elkhart and Notre Dame University at South Bend, graduating from that institution. He came to Harrisonville, Missouri, when he was about twenty years of age, without capital. He entered the employ of Dr. W. H. Barrett as a drug clerk, and a short time afterwards became a partner of Dr. Barrett under the firm name of W. H. Barrett & Company. In addition to the drug business they carried on an extensive grain, hay, and seed business, and also operated a flour mill. Besides his vast interests in connection with the firm of W. H. Barrett & Company, he was interested in a great many other projects. He was a director in the Allen Bank, and also in the First National Bank, and was one of the promoters of West El Dorado. He was one of the promoters of Cass County Telephone Company, and vice president of that company at the time of his death. T. W. Clemments and W. B. Scruggs were associated with him.
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Mr. Moody was a democrat and took an active part in local political affairs. He served as mayor of Harrisonville, and was also an alderman for a number of terms. He was a Knights Templar Mason and a member of the Mystic Shrine, and also held membership in the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Fraternal Order of Eagles. He was not a member of any particular religious denomination, but was always a generous contributor to the church.
Mr. Moody was married in 1879 to Annie Chilton, who died, leaving one son, Dr. George R. Moody, now a dental surgeon in San Francisco, California. On November 22, 1894, Mr. Moody was united in marriage with Miss Mary A. Clemments. Mrs. Moody is a native of Cass County, and a daughter of Peter S. Clemments, a Cass County pioneer, a personal sketch of whom appears in this volume. To Mr. and Mrs. Moody was born one child, Horace Jackson, who was educated in the Harrisonville High School, University of Missouri, and Westminster College at Fulton, Missouri, and now resides with his mother at Harrisonville. Mrs. Moody is a member of the Presbyterian Church. She is an estimable woman, of unusual qualities, and is popular in the community.
C. R. Bush, a well-known citizen of Pleasant Hill, Missouri, is a native son of Cass County, and is a member of one of the pioneer fam- ilies of this section of Missouri. He was born at Pleasant Hill, October 30, 1859, and is a son of R. N. and Henrietta (Fleming) Bush, natives of Kentucky. The father was born in Clark County, and came to Cass County about 1849, and Henrietta Fleming came here with her mother as early as 1842. R. N. Bush and wife were the parents of five children, three of whom are living, as follows: C. R., the subject of this sketch; C. S., Ponca City, Oklahoma; and David N., Big Creek township, Cass County.
C. R. Bush was educated in the public schools of Cass County and followed farming until 1902, when he engaged in teaming and contract- ing. In 1915 he was elected collector of Pleasant Hill township, and since then has devoted himself to the duties of that office. He was re-elected for a second term March, 1917.
Mr. Bush was married October 4, 1882, to Miss Mary Catherine Skillman, daughter of Joseph and Levina Skillman, of Pleasant Hill, Missouri. The Skillman family came from Kentucky, and Mrs. Bush was born in Fleming County, that state. To Mr. and Mrs. Bush have been born five children, as follows, three dying in infancy: Lennie Etta
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and Lou Bell, both of whom reside at home with their parents. Mr. and Mrs. Bush have a pleasant home on Taylor Street in Pleasant Hill. Mr. Bush has been well known to the editor of this work for a number of years, and is one of the substantial men of Cass County. He has been a member of the Modern Woodmen of America for over twenty years.
Algernon Sidney O'Bannon was a native of Fleming County, Ken- tucky, and settled in Cass County, Missouri, in 1856. By profession he was a surveyor and school teacher. Prior to coming to Missouri, he taught school in his native state and had also done much surveying in Kentucky. He was a man of quite strong convictions, and once formed an opinion was very determined in carrying out these convictions. Such men always have great influence in their communities. In 1860 Mr. O'Bannon represented Cass County in the Lower House of the State Legislature. He made a decided impression on his fellow members, and his advice was readily sought on pending legislation. President Lincoln recognized his abilities by appointing him to an important post under the general government. This he filled to the satisfaction of the President. Mr. O'Bannon was a man of much reading; few men were as well read. He died at his farm, located near the old town site of Index.
Mr. O'Bannon married Artemesia West, in Garrett County, Ken- tucky, and came to Missouri by boat, landing at Lexington, Missouri, thence overland to the home where he died. To this union were born seven children, who grew to maturity. All have proved to be good citizens and useful members of society. Some of these children are: Laura Belle Withers, Richard D. O'Bannon, James T. O'Bannon, Algernon Sidney O'Bannon, Melissa Cover, Dr. W. B. O'Bannon, and Mary S. Parker. The last named is now dead. These young people are now growing old. It makes one realize that the spring day of life is past for the writer, for these children were among the writer's schoolmates. The mother, Mrs. Artemesia W. O'Bannon, died at the home of her daughter, Laura Belle Withers, in 1892.
In this connection it is not out of the way to speak of M. W. Withers, a most worthy and estimable citizen of the county in an early date. Mr. Withers was a native of Kentucky. When quite a young man he took the trip overland to Portland, Oregon. He returned by way of the present site of the great canal across the Isthmus of Panama, thence to New York, landing in Cass County in 1869. One of the important events
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of his life took place at Harrisonville in 1870. Withers and Miss Laura B. O'Bannon took their flight from the old Index neighborhood to the residence of their pastor, Rev. Abner H. Deane, where they were united in the holy bonds of matrimony. No better, good, old-fashioned Baptist people ever lived.
Their home was ever open to preachers, and their purse was always open to charitable and church purposes. Mr. Withers died quite a num- ber of years ago, his widow still survives, making her home of later years at Holden, Missouri.
Their children were F. O. Withers, Angela Campbell, wife of W. S. Campbell, an attorney of St. Louis; and Otto E. Withers, who resides with his mother. He took the study of music for his life work, and has succeeded. Campbell is a graduate of the Missouri State University and his wife a graduate of the Warrensburg State Normal. Mr. and Mrs. Withers have not lived in vain.
A. R. Wherritt, vice-president of the Farmers' National Bank of Pleasant Hill, who is extensively engaged in the real estate and loan business at Pleasant Hill, Missouri, is a native of Cass County. He was born two and a half miles west of Pleasant Hill, and is a son of Barton and Margaret (Peacock) Wherritt, the former a native of Maryland, and the latter of Richmond, Kentucky. Although born in Maryland, Bar- ton Wherritt was reared and educated in Kentucky, and in youth learned the carriage and wagonmakers' trade, which he followed for a number of years, and was recognized as a mechanic of unusual skill. He came to Cass County in 1851 and settled on one hundred and sixty acres of land in Big Creek township. This place is now owned by John Schrader and William Gray.
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