USA > Missouri > Cass County > History of Cass County, Missouri > Part 46
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F. J. Brooker moved to Vernon County, Missouri, in 1888, from But- ler County, Kansas, locating near Walker, Missouri. Thence he came in 1909 to Cass County. Mr. Brooker was one of the first stockholders of the Farmers Lumber and Supply Company, which was organized in November, 1911. Ira Whitman, manager of the Farmers Supply Com- pany of Adrian, was organizer. The Farmers Lumber and Supply Com- pany started with about one hundred members and a capital stock of ten thousand dollars. The business of the company is conducted under the skillful management of F. J. Brooker, the company's first and only manager. The first officers of the Farmers Lumber and Supply Company were: A. J. Hayden, president; Martin Ziegler, secretary; D. H. Kirk, treasurer; Jacob Smith and Joe Schertz, directors. The present officers are: A. J. Hayden, president; George Walker, secretary; D. H. Kirk, treasurer; Jacob Smith and William Blair, directors.
The ground occupied by the company is 150 x 125 feet, near the depot and they carry a stock of lumber, brick, cement and some hardware. From the first the company has been a great success, a regulator of prices. Much
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of this success has been undoubtedly due to the careful, economical man- agement of F. J. Brooker. Although Mr. Brooker has not long been a resident of Cass County he has established an enviable reputation for being honorable and upright in all his dealings and is classed among the county's best men.
J. L. Kauffman, the capable proprietor of the City Light plant at Garden City, has long been recognized as one of Cass County's leading citizens. Mr. Kauffman was born in Pennsylvania in 1864, son of Ste- phen and Mary (King) Kauffman. Stephen Kauffman was a native of Pennsylvania. When J. L. Kauffman was three years of age he came to Cass County with his parents, who located upon a farm six miles northwest of what is now Garden City. To Stephen and Mary (King) Kauffman were born eight children, six of whom are now living: Frank, who resides one mile east and one mile south of Daugherty ; David, Minot, North Dakota; Sarah, wife of I. Z. Yoder, residing near Daugherty; Ida, wife of Ben Martin, Minot, North Dakota; Mollie, wife of Jonah King, Garden City; and J. L., subject of this review. Both Stephen and Mary Kauffman have been called home. When the last call came, they were on the farm which had been their home since coming to Cass County.
J. L. Kauffman received a good education in the schools of Cass County, and early evinced a fondness for study, which in later years has proven a boon to him. He is a persistent reader and keen observer and in a great measure has been his own teacher. Mr. Kauffman lived the life of the average lad on the farm, remaining at home assisting his father in the various farm duties until he was twenty-three years of age. At that time he entered the business world, assisting A. J. Sharp and Brothers, of Harrisonville. He remained with this firm for three years. Mr. Kauffman has always been a worker, and the industrious habits and persevering energy of the young man aroused much interest and respect. When twenty-six years of age J. L. Kauffman came to Gar- den City and opened a general repair shop, later adding a foundry. Here, too, he was married.
In 1890 J. L. Kauffman and Emma Helmuth, daughter of J. S. and Katy (Oesch) Helmuth, of Garden City, were united in marriage. To Mr. and Mrs. Kauffman have been born five children: Mrs. Pearl Sch- rock. residing northeast of Garden City; Roy, who married Amanda Miller, and resides in Garden City; Sadie, at home; Clarence, at home;
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and Beulah, at home. The Kauffman home is a beautiful residence, pleasantly located in the suburbs of Garden City.
Mr. Kauffman had long been very much interested in electrical work and in the evenings after his labor for the day was ended, he read con- stantly and studied persistently. As the result of his assiduous labors he gave Garden City her first and only electric light plant, in 1913. The building, which is 25x70 feet in dimensions, was not erected until July, 1915. The plant consists of two twenty-five and one fifteen horse-power coal-oil engines, one thirty-five kilowatt and twenty kilowatt Westing- house dynamos. Mr. Kauffman has a twenty-year franchise and a ten- year street lighting contract. His plant has always given good service. It has been shut down but one hour and a half in service at one time since starting, and Mr. Kauffman at the present writing has one hundred forty-five well pleased customers. In addition to the plant at Garden City, he sells and installs electric light plants for farms. This work he began two years ago.
For twenty-seven years J. L. Kauffman has been actively identified with the business interests of Garden City. He is widely known in this section of the country, and universally respected. He is a genial, upright, industrious man, and has gained the confidence and esteem of all.
J. Richard Macrae, the popular, young proprietor of the Garden City Drug Company, is a representative of a fine old Scotch family. He was born near Garden City, Missouri, in 1894, son of James R. and Susan Amelia Macrae. James R. Macrae, son of John and Hannah (Tomlin) Macrae, the former a native of Fairfax County, Virginia, was born on his father's farm in 1856 amid the picturesque scenery of Virginia, in Fau- quier County, twenty-five miles east of the Blue Ridge mountains. John and Hannah (Tomlin) Macrae were the parents of seven children: Mrs. Amelia Westwood, deceased; Stephen Tomlin, residing on the home place in Virginia; Mrs. Ann Edwenes, deceased; J. R., father of the subject of this review; Sarah, died at the age of five years; Mary Eliza, Washington, D. C .; and Mrs. Susan Blackmore, Washington, D. C.
J. R. Macrae received his early education in the common schools of Virginia. He remembers, as a lad, hearing the cannon of the battle of Bull Run. Until he was eighteen years of age Mr. Macrae remained with his parents, aiding in the labor of the farm. In 1884 Mr. Macrae came from Virginia to Cass County, Missouri, and spent his first season in the west working for Jacob Flook. The second season he rented a farm near
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Dayton of Mrs. Terrett, upon which he lived for eight years. From the Terrett farm he moved to the Jene Nilson place where he remained four years and thence to the Thad Hutton farm upon which he lived three years. In May, 1899, Mr. Macrae purchased forty acres adjoining Garden City and later added forty acres on the east, his present home.
All the improvements on his farm J. R. Macrae himself has placed there. In 1899 his handsome two-story residence was erected and two well built, commodious barns, one for stock and hay, 35 x 50 feet, the other for grain, hay and stock, 50 x 76 feet. There are many other build- ings on this well-kept place including a corn crib and implement building 44 × 16 feet, and a hen house, 10 x 60 feet, with a capacity of one hundred twenty-five hens. Mr. Macrae is interested both in farming and stock raising. He is a firm believer in Red Durocs, but does have some reg- istered stock. He varies his stock. For several years he fed a large number of cattle. Mr. Macrae feeds all the grain and hay he raises.
In 1899 J. R. Macrae showed that his good Scotch ingenuity was not dormant by literally constructing a pond from which he can pipe water to any part of his farm. Mr. Macrae made this pond on a rise between the house and barn at a depth of ten to twelve feet. The excavation was scraped out 60 x 100 feet, thirty-five to forty feet from bank to bank. He has piped the water to the feed lots. The pond is fenced so no stock can get into it. It has proven a great success, has never been dry but holds water like a jug. In bee culture Mr. Macrae also takes 'a keen inter- est. At the time of this writing he has fifteen stands of bees. Last years, with eleven, twelve hundred pounds of honey were produced. Will- iam Cox, of Dayton, has charge of the bees and to him is given the credit for the big production.
The Macrae farm is inclosed by a four foot web fence having two barbs on top. The cross fences are of like material. The stock lots are fenced with shellbark hickory boards and hedge posts. All are strong and secure and greatly add to the appearance of the place. There is not a better kept, neater farm in Cass County, than that of J. R. Macrae.
In September, 1889, J. R. Macrae and Susan Amelia Macrae, of Sedalia, Missouri, were united in marriage. Susan Amelia Macrae is a native of Richmond, Virginia, and there spent her girlhood and was edu- cated. Mr. and Mrs. Macrae are the parents of two children: J. Richard, druggist, of Garden City, Missouri; and Hannah Sheldema, a teacher in the schools of Garden City.
J. Richard Macrae has had exceptional educational opportunities. He
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attended the schools of Garden City and is a graduate of high school. He spent more than a year in Central College, Fayette, Missouri. The young man's first venture in the business world was operating a cafe in Fayette. Six months later he purchased in August, 1914, the drug store in Garden City then owned by J. F. Suffecool. At that time the store was located in the Suffecool building but in January, 1917, it was moved to the present location on upper Main street. This drug store is one of the finest in the county. It carries an attractive, up-to-date and complete line of drugs and medicines and does a large prescription business. T. A. Washington, a registered pharmacist with a record of over forty years and one of the best informed men in his line in the state, has charge of the prescription business. The trade has been constantly increasing, and deservedly for young Macrae, like his father before him, possesses all the many excel- lencies of Scotch character, is honorable and upright in all his dealings and most worthy of confidence and esteem.
George B. Anderson, the present efficient postmaster of Garden City, has been identified with the development of that town since its beginning. He is a native of Michigan, born in Jackson County, February 20, 1863, a son of John S. and Rose A. (Boals) Anderson, natives of New York. They were the parents of six children of whom George B., the subject of this sketch, is the oldest. The others are as follows: William R., Glen- dora, California; John F. Skagway, Alaska; Mrs. Louisa H. Conover, Seattle, Washington; Sam B., Wichita, Kansas; and Hamilton S., who was accidentally killed in 1888 by the discharge of an anvil at a ratification celebration, at Garden City, Missouri.
George B. Anderson received his education in the public schools of Jackson County, Michigan. In 1881 he came to Cass County with his parents. His father bought three hundred twenty acres of land from James M. Allison, where Garden City now stands. Four years after com- ing here John S. Anderson and George Nettleton laid out the town site of Garden City. This was in the fall of 1884. The original town site con- tained one hundred twenty acres. B. R. Tompkins opened the first store on the town site which was followed shortly afterwards by the grocery store of Kelley and Hutton. Dr. Dempsey had the first drug store. J. S. Halcomb later opened a drug store. L. W. Burdett had the first furniture store. McBride Brothers later opened a grocery store and Ferrell and Kimberlin had the first hardware store.
Mr. Anderson is a Democrat and has taken an active part in the
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political affairs of Cass County and the state. He has been assessor of Index township, city clerk of Garden City and for five years was a guard at the state prison at Jefferson City. July 21, 1916 he was appointed postmaster of Garden City.
Mr. Anderson was married May 3. 1885, to Miss Mary F. Wildeboor, a daughter of M. Wildeboor, who is now deceased. Mrs. Anderson was born in Green County, Illinois, October 29, 1865. Her parents came to Cass County when she was one year old. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Anderson was the first marriage ceremony to take place in the new town of Garden City. They have an adopted daughter, Lydia, a junior in the Garden City High School.
Mr. Anderson is a Royal Arch Mason, a member of the Modern Wood- men of America, and he and Mrs. Anderson are members of the Order of the Eastern Star. Mr. Anderson has been superintendent of the Meth- odist Episcopal Sunday school, south, for the past seven years and also a member of the board of trustees. Mrs. Anderson has been a teacher of a Sunday school class for the years past and both have been members of this church for the past thirty years. John S. Anderson was a member of the board of trustees of this church when it was first organized here.
William J. Boals, a prominent farmer and stockman and early settler in Cass County, is a native of New York, born in 1843. He is a son of William C. and Agnes (Geddes) Boals. The father was a native of County Down, Ireland. He was a descendant of an ancient and honorable family that was driven out of Scotland to the north of Ireland over six hundred years ago on account of religious persecutions. They were Presbyterians. A great-great-great-uncle of William Boals, Thomas Boals, emigrated from Ireland to Pennsylvania prior to the Revolutionary War and his descendants are scattered through Virginia, Kentucky and Pennsylvania. Boalstown, Pennsylvania, was named in his honor. Will- iam C. Boals died in Cass County, November 7, 1869, and his wife died here in February, 1888. They were the parents of nine children, as fol- lows: Robert, deceased; John G., deceased; Mrs. Mary Ann Madison, died at El Dorado Springs, Missouri, in 1916; Mrs. Nancy Hoag died in Spring- field, Illinois ; Samuel C., whose address is unknown; Jane I., Garden City, Missouri ; Mrs. Rose Anderson, Garden City, Missouri ; Mrs. Louisa Wright, deceased; and William J., the subject of this sketch.
William J. Boals removed with his parents from New York to Jack- son County, Michigan, in 1845, when he was about two years old. The
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family remained in that state until 1869, when they came to Cass County, Missouri. William J. and John G. bought one hundred sixty acres of raw prairie land for twelve dollars and fifty cents per acre. William still resides on this place. He has added more land and now owns two hun- dred eighty-five acres. He has successfully carried on farming and stock raising. He is a successful farmer and for years has carried out the scheme of systematic rotation of crops which he contends is the most logical method of soil conservation. The results which he has obtained bear out the correctness of his theory. He is a successful wheat grower and has been equally successful in raising other grain. The Boals home on the farm presents a well kept and prosperous appearance. The farm residence was built in 1904, and the place is well equipped with suitable barns and sheds. In fact the Boals farm is equipped with three distinct sets of improvements.
Mr. Boals was married in 1883 to Miss Lucy Stair of Eight Mile, a daughter of Alfred and Rebecca Stair, both now deceased. To Mr. and Mrs. Boals have been born the following children: Agnes, who resides at home; Ina, who departed this life at the age of eleven years; Pet May, attending school; Frank B. and Zarah, students in the high school; John S., who was accidentally killed at the age of nineteen by falling on a pitchfork handle; and William J. - John S. was a brilliant young man and his untimely death was sadly felt not only by his immediate family but by a broad circle of acquaintances. He was graduated from the Gar- den City High School at the age of seventeen and was also a graduate of the State Normal School at Warrensburg. He received distinction as a student during his educational career. John S. Boals was the leader in the interstate debate between Missouri and Kansas in May, 1914, in which Missouri won. Another son, William J., met with an untimely death about three months after the death of his brother, John S., to whom he was very much attached.
Mr. Boals is one of the substantial men of Cass County and has always measured up to the requirements of good citizenship.
James William Sexton, the capable, efficient young editor of the Gar- den City "Views", was born in Boone County, Missouri, in 1889. He is one of three sons born to Middleton and Ida Lee (Matthews) Sexton, both natives of Boone County, Missouri. Middleton Sexton was a son of John T. Sexton, who in early manhood came to Missouri from Kentucky. The father of Ida Lee (Matthews) Sexton was a Virginian. All three sons
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of Middleton and Ida Sexton are engaged in journalistic work: John C., editor of the "Courier", Hickman, Kentucky; James W., subject of this sketch; and Charles, editor of the "Tribune", Freeburg, Illinois.
In May, 1910, James William Sexton came to Cass County. Prior to his coming he had been for five years foreman of the "Leader" news- paper office at Sturgeon, Missouri. In 1910 he purchased from J. Cart- wright the Garden City "Views" and immediately took control. Under his management the paper has prospered to a remarkable degree, cover- ing the territory completely. Mr. Sexton has a fine, literary mind. His editorials are written in a unique, original style, and are widely read.
In 1912 James W. Sexton and Elizabeth Katherine Kimberlin, the lovely daughter of W. A. and Sarah L. Kimberlin of Garden City, were united in marriage.
Mr. Sexton keeps in close touch with the world at large and is one of the best informed men of his community.
Dr. Frank B. Ellis, a well known and successful physician and surgeon of Garden City is a native son of Cass County. He was born in Index township in 1872 and is a son of Dr. Dyas C. Ellis and Sallie Bedinger, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Lexington, Kentucky.
Dr. Dyas C. Ellis was born in Aberdeen, Ohio, in 1832. After receiv- ing a good preparatory education he took a medical course in the Colum- bus Medical College, Columbus, Ohio. He was graduated from that insti- tution with a degree of Doctor of Medicine. Dr. Ellis was engaged in the practice of his profession in Ohio when the Civil War broke out. He enlisted in the Sixth Ohio Cavalry in 1861 and served throughout the war with the rank of captain. He was with his regiment in many important battles and hard fought engagements, receiving his baptism of fire at the first battle of Bull Run. At the close of the war and after being mustered out of the service he resumed the practice of medicine. In 1870 Doctor Ellis came to Cass County, locating at Index where he practiced medicine for several years and also engaged in farming. In 1906 he retired and removed to Garden City, where he spent his last days with his son. He died in 1911. His wife died in 1893.
Dr. Frank B. Ellis attended the public schools of Cass County. He later attended the State Normal School at Warrensburg, Missouri, and the Ft. Scott Normal School at Ft. Scott, Kansas. He also took a course in Oklahoma University, and in 1894 matriculated in the University Medical College at Kansas City, where he was graduated with the degree of Doc-
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tor of Medicine in 1897. Later Doctor Ellis took a post graduate course in the Post Graduate Medical School of New York City. In 1897 he engaged in the practice of his profession at Garden City where he has built up a large practice. Doctor Ellis is a close student of the science of medicine and has earned the well merited reputation of being a pains- taking and successful physician.
In 1896 Dr. Frank B. Ellis was united in marriage with Miss Addie Hudson, a daughter of George E. and Susie Hudson, of Kansas City, Mis- souri. The father is now deceased and the mother makes her home with her daughter in Garden City. To Doctor and Mrs. Ellis have been born three children as follows: Mrs. C. E. Stevens, Kansas City, Missouri ; Bernice and Coburn, at home.
Doctor Ellis is not only prominent in his professional work but takes a keen interest in all matters tending to the betterment of his town and county and is ever ready to support any worthy enterprise with his time and money.
J. W. Remington, an enterprising business man of Garden City, Mis- souri, is a native of Indiana. He was born in Park County, Indiana, in 1860, son of Elisha and Samantha (Denman) Remington, the latter a native of Park County, Indiana. Elisha Remington was born near Cosh- octon, Ohio. To Elisha and Samantha (Denman) Remington were born eight children: Mrs. Ruth A. Gilkerson, Garden City, Missouri; Isaac, Park County, Indiana; J. W., subject of this review; Mrs. Laura Crooks, Topeka, Kansas; Fred, Park County, Indiana; and two babes died in infancy. By a second marriage of Elisha Remington to Mary Cahill, two children were born: Mrs. Lydia Green and Benjamin Remington. Both live in Park County, Indiana.
J. W. Remington received his education in the common schools of Indiana, but when but a youth of nineteen came to Cass County, Missouri, in 1879. Mr. Remington located in Camp Branch township where he engaged in farming.
In 1883 J. W. Remington and Rosa E. Crooks, daughter of Rev. J. M. and Sarah (Thompson) Crooke were united in marriage. Rev. J. M. Crooke is one of the brave, old pioneers of Cass County. He located three miles west of the present site of Garden City in Camp Branch township and here Sarah (Thompson) Crooks was called away in 1884. Rev. Crooks resides at present in Topeka, Kansas.
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Mr. and Mrs. Remington are the parents of three living children: C. C., resident of Garden City, Missouri, and mail carrier on Rural Route No. 2. succeeding his father; C. F., jeweler of Garden City, Missouri ; and Geneva, wife of A. L. Spry, of Garden City, Missouri.
Until 1902. Mr. Remington continued his agricultural pursuits in Camp Branch township. At that time he was appointed mail carrier on Rural Route No. 2. out of Garden City. Since 1910 he has been engaged in Garden City in the grain, feed and ice business. In 1911 Mr. Reming- ton was elected assessor for Index township, a position of trust which he has very ably filled for the past six years, his term expiring in March, 1917. At the present writing Mr. Remington is also the tax collector for Garden City.
Mr. and Mrs. Remington have made their home in Garden City for the past fourteen years. The present site of this city was but a short time ago fields of waving wheat. Mr. Remington has threshed wheat in those fields and many times drank water from a well located upon the lot now owned by himself. He has a fund of interesting reminiscences of those days gone by. Dozens of trips he made hauling coal from Rich Hill, the trip requiring two days and a night. He recalls that one night the men had encamped on Deer Creek. A sheet, thrown over the tongue of the wagon was their only cover. In the early morning they were awakened by a feeling of bitter cold. A four-inch snow had fallen during the night.
J. W. Remington is a man of courtly manners and splendid mental attainments. During their residence in the county he and Mrs. Reming- ton have gained the respect and esteem of all, making countless friends. J. W. Remington has been true to every trust reposed in him. Public- spirited and noble hearted, he is a power for good in his community.
D. R. Hutchison, a prominent farmer and stockman of Grand River township, is a native of Virginia. He was born in Nicholas County (now West Virginia), April 8, 1847, and is a son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Hannah) Hutchison, both of whom were born and reared in Nicholas County. Joseph Hutchison was the son of Jacob Hutchison, a native of Ireland, who came to America, a stowaway on a sailing vessel, when he was sixteen years old. When a young man he settled on the farm in Virginia where D. R., the subject of this sketch, was born and reared. He died in 1862, at the age of ninety-six years. The old Hutchison home- stead where he settled has been in the Hutchison family since that time.
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D. R. HUTCHISON AND FAMILY. Left to right, back row: Reid Hutchison, Mrs. W. F. Steplin, W. F. Steplin, Mrs. Andrew J. Hutchison, Mrs. Lawrence Martin, Andrew J. Hutchison, Mrs. Otto Hutchison, Otto Hutchison, B. F. Knox. Front row, Mrs. Reid Hutchison, holding her baby, Ralph; D. R. Hutchison, Mrs. D. R. Hutchison, Mrs. B. F. Knox and daughter, Edith Knox.
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When Jacob Hutchison settled in Nicholas County, Virginia, that was a wild and sparsely settled section of the state and the buffalo was still to be found in that vicinity.
Joseph Hutchison, father of D. R., was a farmer and Methodist preacher. The Hutchison family endured a great many inconveniences and hardships and suffered considerable financial loss on account of the devastation of the Civil War. The father died in 1871 at the age of sixty-seven years and the mother survived him a number of years, pass- ing away June 9, 1909. They were the parents of twelve children, two of whom are now living: Anthony, who occupies the old homestead in Nicholas County, West Virginia, and D. R., the subject of this sketch.
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