USA > Missouri > Cass County > History of Cass County, Missouri > Part 37
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In 1899 Mr. and Mrs. Lane settled on the Hamilton farm of six hundred acres, in Raymore township, which Mrs. Lane inherited from her father, George Hamilton. Here Mr. Lane has been extensively engaged in farming and stock raising to the present time. He makes a specialty of standard bred and registered saddle horses, and is per- haps one of the most extensive breeders of that class of horses in the state. This class of horses commands a good price on the market, and Mr. Lane frequently sells his horses as high as four hundred dollars each. Mr. Lane deals extensively in cattle and is also a large feeder, and some seasons feeds for the market as many as six car loads of cat- tle. The Lane farm is known as the "Blue Grass Stock Farm", and complies pretty thoroughly with the title, as about three hundred and fifty acres are under blue grass. The place is well watered, improved
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and equipped and has every commendable feature necessary for handling stock on a big scale. The Lane residence is a ten-room house and is situated back from the road about three hundred yards, which gives the place an imposing appearance.
The Lane family are prominent in the community, and Mr. Lane is one of Cass County's substantial citizens.
G. G. Alderson, a prominent farmer and stockman of Mt. Pleasant township, belongs to a pioneer family of Cass County. He was born in Simpson County, Kentucky, in 1849, and is a son of John B. and Ruth (Thompson) Alderson. The Aldersons are an old Virginia family and at an early date removed from that state to Kentucky. They have been tillers of the soil for generations, and men and women of noble character.
G. G. Alderson came to Missouri with his parents in 1856, when he was about seven years of age. The family located in Cass County on a farm and two years later they removed to Louisburg, Kansas. Kansas was yet a territory at that time, and in 1864, the Alderson family sold their claim in Kansas and after the war returned to Cass County. G. G. Alderson remembers many incidents in connection with the Civil War. He saw Quantrill and his men when they were on their way to Lawrence, Kansas, and also saw them returning after the Lawrence raid. After the war, the Alderson family, like many others whose places had been devastated, were practically destitute and had great difficulty in getting a start. Everything movable on their place had been destroyed or car- ried away, even the fences. The first horse which Mr. Alderson ever owned, he took in exchange for four months' work. Later he traded this horse for a team. In 1873, shortly after his marriage, Mr. Alderson followed farming for a few years, when he removed to Belton and fol- lowed building, making a specialty of building stone foundations for residences and other buildings, and many of the houses standing in Bel- ton today rest on foundations which he built. In 1892 he returned to the old homestead and bought the interests of the other heirs and has since made his home there and been very successful in farming and stock raising. He has specialized in raising mules, which he has found very profitable.
Mr. Alderson was married in 1873 to Miss Rachel A. Young, a daughter of Chessney and Elizabeth Young, Cass County pioneers. Mr. Young entered three hundred acres of land near Belton at a very early
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day. At one time he owned one hundred and sixty acres of land in the vicinity of Fifteenth Street, Kansas City, which he sold in 1849. He was an extensive cattle man. He died in 1851. In 1854 his widow married William Mullen, and four children were born to them. Mrs. Alderson was one of a family of six children, born to her mother's first marriage. To Mr. and Mrs. Alderson have been born four children, two of whom are now living: Robert Chesney Alderson, and Noami, who married William A. Jackson, a son of C. S. and Matilda Jackson. He died in 1915. To Mr. and Mrs. Jackson were born six children, as follows: Mildred, Ruth, Kenneth, Morris, Lois, and Nadine.
Mr. Alderson is one of the real pioneers of Cass County. When he came here this country was practically all open prairie, covered with a rank growth of blue stem. Independence, Missouri, was the nearest postoffice, and conveniences, which are the usual ear-marks of civiliza- tion, were sadly lacking, yet the people of those days enjoyed themselves. They had their parties and took just as much interest, and perhaps more, in life than people do nowadays.
H. F. Davenport, a prominent pioneer of Cass County, is one of the few surviving members of the honored clan of noble men and women, whose courageous labor and tireless efforts made present day conveniences possible. He was born in 1848 in Van Buren (now Cass) County. He is the son of James and Frances J. (Rader) Davenport, who emigrated from Virginia to Missouri in 1838. They were united in marriage June 9, 1842, in Johnson County, Missouri. James Davenport entered five hundred acres of land from the government, paying one dollar and twenty-five cents an acre. The first home of the Davenports on the western prairie was a one room cabin built of hewed logs, with a clapboard roof, puncheon floor, mud plastered fireplace, and a door made of shingles. In this rude log cabin home their only son, H. F., was born. Frances J. (Rader) Davenport was the daughter of William Rader, who came to Missouri as early as 1838.
James Davenport became a prominent stockman, dealing extensively in horses and cattle. He was a man of regular, industrious habits, of sterling character and strict integrity. He was strong in his convictions of right and wrong and was of positive mind. James Davenport was never known to have expressed an opinion until he had heard all available evi- dence. Having once expressed his views he firmly upheld them. His death occurred in 1860. H. F. Davenport has one half brother and one
MR. AND MRS. H. F. DAVENPORT.
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sister living, namely: Mrs. Sarah Music, Lisle, Missouri; and William C. Warner, Kansas City, Missouri.
In 1871 H. F. Davenport and Mary Davidson, daughter of A. L. and Pricilla Davidson, were united in marriage and to this union the following children were born: J. W., who is a minister in East Lynne, Missouri ; Mrs. Mary Williams, Lisle, Missouri; William H., Freeman, Missouri; Mrs. Etta Weller, Freeman, Missouri, and O. B., Westline, Missouri.
Mr. Davenport has been a resident of Cass County since his birth nearly seventy years ago and with unclouded memory recalls much of the early history of the county and the primitive conditions of the country. At the time of his birth there was not a settlement between the Davenport home and the Kansas line. Lexington was the nearest milling point and Westport the nearest trading point. Large numbers of Indians frequently passed to and fro through the country. Deer, wild turkeys and prairie chickens were in greatest abundance and hunting was an occupation, not a past-time. Many times Mr. Davenport has seen herds of wild horses near the Kansas border. Their home was a log house containing but one room. The most attractive feature of that one room was the fireplace. As there was no stove, all cooking was done there. All wearing apparel was made by the mother in the home. Mr. Davenport also remembers the first schools and churches in the county. Subscription schools were the only schools in Cass County before the Civil war. William Bruce was H. F. Davenport's first teacher. There was a church at West Union where the pioneer preachers, B. Adams, a Baptist minister and Robert Sloan, father of Judge Sloan, a Presbyterian minister, held services. In cold weather the minister often preached in overcoat and mittens. His father and mother would each take two children and ride on horseback to church.
It is intensely interesting to hear Mr. Davenport relate in his inimit- able way the experiences of his youth. He broke ground with the aid of a wooden plow and a yoke of oxen. He describes the kind of lamp in use in those days and says that it was a splendid change when candles were introduced. The first grain was cut with a hand scythe and the grain tramped out by horses and cattle. Mr. Davenport has lived a life of use- fulness and he did much to open the way for the successful settlement of the country. Honest, capable and diligent he is now living quietly upon his farm of one hundred sixty acres in West Dolan township, which is one of the pleasant rural homes in Cass County. H. F. Davenport will long be remembered as worthy of highest praise in the county with whose growth he has been so closely identified for more than a half century.
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C. J. Wortham, one of Cass County's own sons, was born December 5, 1871. His parents, Isaac T. and Martha J. (Mason) Wortham, immi- grated to Missouri from Hardin County, Kentucky in 1867. They stopped in Johnson County for one year and came thence to Cass County, and settled in West Dolan township, where Mr. Wortham purchased eighty acres of land. To Isaac T. and Martha J. (Mason) Wortham were born five children, four of whom are now living, namely: Charles J., Free- man, Missouri; Mrs. Mary M. Mckown, Kansas City, Missouri; Mrs. Susan Brawner, Belton, Missouri; and Thomas E., Louisburg, Kansas. Isaac T. Wortham hauled the lumber for the new home from Pleasant Hill. There were two rooms in the house and an attic. It was not an elegant structure, and the romping children frequently found it some- what crowded, but they were all sturdy, robust, and contented, and no one complained of the hardships and privations, though they were often hard to bear in those trying days of reconstruction.
Isaac T. Wortham was a worker and by constant industry and econ- omy was enabled to purchase tracts of land at different times, until at the time of his death, in 1909, he was owner of five hundred forty-five acres of very valuable land. He was an active member of the Baptist church, and a member of the Blue River Association. Mr. Wortham was connected in some way with nearly every work of Christian benevo- lence in his community, and contributed liberally of his means to aid every good cause. His widow survives Mr. Wortham and now resides in Belton, Missouri. Mrs. Wortham is one of the loveliest, Christian char- acters Cass County has ever known. She was an ideal wife and mother, patient, loving and kind. She has never been known to speak ill of any- one, but ever searched for the best in all people, believing that good is latent, even in the heart of the most hardened criminal. Of her nobility of soul, all with whom she comes in contact are firmly convinced. She, too, is a beloved member of the Baptist church.
Mr. Wortham's early education was such as could be acquired in the common schools of his neighborhood. Upon reaching maturity, he at- tended the Robinson Business College in Sedalia, Missouri, and the Will- iam Jewel College in Liberty, Missouri. In 1899 he purchased eighty acres of land, southeast of West Line, which he later improved.
In 1906 C. J. Wortham and Alice P. McKean, daughter of Thompson and Alice L. Mckean, were united in marriage, and to this union has been born one son, Harold Mason, who lives at home with his parents, and is now attending school. The Mckean family is of Scotch-Irish line-
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age and has been a distinguished one since Revolutionary times. A member of the Mckean family was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.
Mr. Wortham has added to his original tract of land at different times and is now owner of two hundred acres of good farm land. The place is well watered and entirely free from boulders. Thirty-five acres are in blue grass. The residence is a beautiful home of six rooms and all farm buildings are well constructed and well kept. Mr. and Mrs. Wortham have a wide circle of friends and they stand very high in their community, both morally and socially.
C. C. Smith, a prominent citizen of West Dolan township, is one of the oldest and most respected residents of Cass County. He was born in St. Louis County, Missouri, in 1838. His father was a sailor of Ger- man descent. He immigrated to Missouri in the early thirties and set- tled in St. Louis County.
C. C. Smith in early manhood was in the employ of the Missouri Pacific Railroad Company. In the days of his courtship he was wont to travel by stage coach from Warrensburg to Independence, and thence to the home of Rev. N. T. Shaler, the site of which is now in the heart of Kansas City. He was there at the time of Price's raid. After Price's raid, Mr. Smith returned to St. Louis, Missouri, where he was re-em- ployed by the Missouri Pacific Railroad Company. In the mean time his father had died and his mother had remarried. When his stepfather died, C. C. Smith joined his mother in St. Louis, and was for some time employed there as overseer of a number of men who were constructing sewers. In 1866 he brought his mother and family to Cass County to make their permanent home.
In 1865 C. C. Smith and Mary C. Shaler, daughter of Rev. N. T. Shaler, a pioneer preacher, were united in marriage. This union has been blessed with the following children: Mrs. Sarah Ann Jordon, Peter C., John W., James S., F. F., F. C., Charles A., and L. W. On the day of their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Smith heard the boom of Price's cannon.
Mr. Smith had thirteen hundred dollars when he came to Cass County. He purchased forty acres in West Dolan township and built his home. He operated a thresher for many years and with his threshing outfit tra- versed much of the state of Missouri. He also operated a sawmill in the early days. When C. C. Smith came to this county it was very thinly settled. Morristown, their nearest trading point, was then a small
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village. The schools fifty years ago were of a low type, and were kept open only a few months in the year. The Nelson school house was built of logs with a puncheon floor. Wildey Major was the first teacher who presided there.
It is Mr. Smith's opinion that the soil is not kept up to its highest state of cultivation, and that it is not now so productive as in the days long gone by. He used to raise flax and thresh from his flax fields from twelve to fifteen bushels of seed per acre.
C. C. Smith has successfully met and withstood all the stern vicissi- tudes of pioneer life. He is a man of observing and correct mind, who understands perhaps more clearly the wants of the country than the average man, and no one is more willing to aid in any measure for the better development of the country or the general good. As a citizen he stands high. In social life he is pre-eminent; his friends are countless and he has no foes. Mr. Smith retires to mature age with the love and esteem of all who know him.
William H. Steen, proprietor of "Woodside Farm", was born in 1846 in Garrard County, Kentucky, son of Elijah M. and Matlida (Burton) Steen. Elijah M. Steen was the son of William Steen, who was born in Kentucky in 1797. William Steen, Jr., was the son of William Steen, Sr., a native of Ireland. Matilda (Burton) Steen was the daughter of Robert A. Burton, of Garrard County, Kentucky. Mr. Burton was the owner of a large plantation in Kentucky and a slave holder. Many of his slaves refused to leave him or to accept the proffered liberty, but faithfully remained with him and labored as before the war. Elijah M. and Matilda (Burton) Steen were married in Kentucky. In 1849 they immigrated to Morgan County, Indiana, where they purchased a farm. The Steen fam- ily remained in Indiana ten years. In 1859 Elijah M. Steen brought his family to Cass County, Missouri. He purchased forty acres of land near the present site of Everett and engaged in general farming.
When the Civil War broke out, Elijah M. Steen enlisted in the Con- federate army and was killed in 1863 while fighting nobly for the prin- ciples which he believed firmly were right. Matilda (Burton) Steen, his widow, remarried, and in 1865 became the wife of James Dorsett, a native of North Carolina, who was living in Indiana at the time of their marriage. In 1870 Mr. and Mrs. Dorsett came to Missouri from Indiana and located in Cass County. Both Mr. and Mrs. Dorsett are now deceased. James Dorsett departed this life in 1889, and his wife followed him in
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death in 1897. One sister and three half-sisters of William H. Steen are now living, namely: Mrs. Mary Stephens, Harrisonville, Missouri; Mrs. Laura Buckner, who resides in Kansas; Mrs. Belle McCoy, Portland, Ore- gon; and Mrs. Viola McClelland, Seattle, Washington.
When William H. Steen was sixteen years of age he enlisted in the union army and served from 1863 until the close of the war. After the war had ended he returned to his home in Missouri and attended school, taught by Frank Scott, a pioneer teacher. In 1873 he purchased sixty acres of land in Everett township and engaged in general farming and stock raising.
William H. Steen and Mary Miles were united in marriage in 1873, and to this union were born two children. The children and their mother were early called home, the mother departing this life in 1878. William H. Steen and Ora Perkins, daughter of James Perkins of Illinois, were united in marriage in 1880. James Perkins immigrated with his family to Missouri from Illinois just after the Civil War. To William H. and Ora (Perkins) Steen have been born six children, five of whom are now living, namely: Mrs. Amanda McCulloh; Ione, Robert I., Emmett, and John B.
William H. Steen has been a resident of Cass County for nearly sixty years, and he has witnessed the marvelous progress which the country has made in that time. He well remembers when a man was at liberty to go any place at any time to cut hay. They traveled then by instinct, for there were no roads and their only safeguard and hope of safely return- ing lay in their sense of direction. For twelve or fifteen miles west of Everett there was not one house when Mr. Steen was a boy. Oxen hitched to wooden plows were used to aid in breaking the ground. Mr. Steen was also a freighter in his young manhood, and he tells many interesting and delightful stories of his early experiences when he freighted with six yoke of oxen. He has experienced all the hardships and privations of pioneer life, as well as the many simple pleasures. Life was not always dull in those early days, for social gatherings of all kinds frequently broke the monotony of hard, daily toil. There were frequently husking and quilting bees, followed by dances which lasted all night, and the young people had much genuine fun.
After a few years Mr. Steen began to prosper. He has sold hogs for two dollars and twenty-five cents per hundred which would now be worth fourteen dollars and five cents, and has bought calves for five dollars each, which would now bring thirty or thirty-five dollars. Milch
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cows were sold for ten dollars which would now be held for one hundred dollars. Mr. Steen has by industry and cautious business management been enabled to purchase tract after tract of land, until his holdings now comprise seven hundred acres of very valuable land, well improved with fine barns and excellent silos. In 1909 he erected a handsome residence of native limestone, which is valued at ten thousand dollars. This home is modern throughout, and one of the most beautiful in Missouri. For many years Mr. Steen has engaged extensively in the stock business, for which vocation he is particularly adapted. One hundred forty acres of Woodside Farm are in blue grass. The place is well watered by the south fork of Grand River. Mr. and Mrs. Steen are eminent among the many honored pioneer citizens of Cass County.
F. W. Richardson, well-known citizen of Cass County, was born in Athens County, Ohio, in 1857, son of Joseph and Elmira (Doan) Richard- son, natives of Ohio. Joseph Richardson was an honored and beloved Baptist minister. In 1857 he moved with his family to Adams County, Illinois, and there spent the remaining years of his life. He died in 1866. Joseph and Elmira (Doan) Richardson were the parents of nine children, four of whom are now living, namely: Reuben, Freeman, Missouri; Jud- son, Ottawa, Kansas; F. W., subject of this review; and Thomas.
The early years of F. W. Richardson's life were passed in familiar acquaintance with the trials, privations and labors of pioneer life, and his education was such as was to be obtained in the country school house of that day. The country schools then held in session about three months in the year and were not of the highest type. His boyhood was spent in the routine of farm labor anad he endured his full share of hardships. His parents were in very limited circumstances and were struggling hard to make a home. Mr. Richardson says that they had little else but pride, but had that in large quantities. The Richardson family would endure the severest privations and take upon themselves the hardest manual labor in order to be free of debt. Cornbread and pumpkin sauce was the usual bill-of-fare, and anything else was considered a luxury. When F. W. Richardson was eleven years old he hired out for fifty cents a day and his dinner. At a very early age he became interested in trading and the fascination of speculating has followed him through life.
Mr. Richardson was still a mere youth when he secured employment with H. H. Staley in Franklin County, Kansas. He worked industriously
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and the hours were long and the recompense twenty-five dollars per month. The other hands were receiving but fifteen dollars. Every other month he sent his wages home to his mother. His expenses during the first eight months were just one dollar each month. When he returned to Illinois he used the money which he had saved from his wages in Kan- sas to purchase his first team. He then began farming in Illinois. Later Mr. Richardson sold his team and returned to Kansas, where he was re-employed by H. H. Staley at thirty dollars per month.
In 1880 F. W. Richardson and Ella Frost, daughter of William Frost, of Illinois, were united in marriage and to this union was born one son, Earnest. Ella (Frost) Richardson departed this life in 1890. In 1892 Mr. Richardson married Rose Demoret, of Hutchinson, Kansas, and this union has also been blessed with one son, Worthy.
After Mr. Richardson's marriage in 1880 he returned to Kansas, where he was employed in breaking sod. He received two dollars per acre for his labor and usually broke two and a half acres per day. With his accumulated savings he purchased twenty-five acres of land in Illinois and for some time again made his home in that state. When Mr. Rich- ardson sold his farm he became a speculator in horses. He and his brother lost three thousand dollars during the panic of 1893, which was one of the worst financial panics the United States has ever passed through. F. W. Richardson then turned his attention to furnishing ties for the railroad.
In 1891 F. W. Richardson came to Cass County, Missouri, and rented the Henry Conger farm, and for four years was engaged in general farming upon that place. At the close of that period he purchased one hundred sixty acres of land, upon which he lived one year. He sold out at a profit of ten dollars per acre and moved to Quincy, Illinois, where he purchased a livery stable. He had in his stable twenty-five work horses and twenty-five boarders. When he was furnishing ties for the railroad he usually loaded one car each day for a year and a half.
In 1900 F. W. Richardson returned to Cass County, Missouri, where he purchased two hundred eighty-two acres south of Freeman. He paid eight thousand dollars for this place, and in 1908, Charles Bird offered seventeen thousand dollars for it. For four years Mr. Richardson rented his place and moved to Jonesboro, Arkansas. He cleared a farm in Ark- ansas, comprising two hundred forty acres, and operated a rice planta- tion there. He planted from sixty to one hundred thirty acres in rice each year and gathered never less than fifty bushels per acre, which he
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sold at an average price of one dollar per bushel. Mr. Richardson raised seven crops of rice.
In 1913 F. W. Richardson came to Cass County for the third time. Since his return he has erected one of the most beautiful homes in the state upon his fine farm here. He still owns two hundred forty acres of rice land besides six hundred acres of heavily forested land in Arkansas.
The story of Mr. Richardson's life, with all its various occupations and general unfolding and steady development from a farmer's boy with no advantages, to a man of great means and worth, might furnish ma- terial for a work of fiction. His career has been marked by constant industry, integrity, and energy from earliest youth, and positive genius for the successful promotion of a particular utility. Mr. Richardson's present prosperous condition has come as the result of earnest effort and determination.
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