USA > Missouri > Cass County > History of Cass County, Missouri > Part 68
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To Mr. and Mrs. Wood have been born two children: Jack Griffith and William Herbert, aged three and one, respectively. Mr. Wood is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen, and Mrs. Wood belongs to the Missouri Women Farmers Club, a state organization, for a number of years; she is also a member of the Shakespearian Club and the Tourist Club, both of Clin- ton, Missouri.
J. F. Dobson, a well known successful farmer and stockman of Peculiar township was born in Cass County, in August, 1852. He is a son of John C. and Nancy Ann (Stepp) Dobson, the former a native of England and the latter of Virginia. The father died when J. F. was seven years old and the mother spent her latter life in Illinois. J. F. Dobson was one of a family of three children.
J. F. Dobson was reared and educated in Illinois, and came to Cass County in 1879, first locating at Pleasant Hill. In 1903 he located in Peculiar township where he has since been engaged in farming and stock raising.
Mr. Dobson was married in Morgan County, Illinois, October 30, 1872, to Miss Sarah Elizabeth Davis. She was born and reared in Morgan
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County and is a daughter of Elijah and Elizabeth (Schostman) Davis, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Virginia, and both were very early settlers in Illinois. The father died in 1881 and the mother passed away in 1906.
To Mr. and Mrs. Dobson have been born six children as follows: William Leroy, born November 13, 1873, married Nora Howard, April 19, 1896, and resides in Raymore township; John Albert, born March 30, 1875, married Elizabeth Reeder, September 12, 1900, resides near Cole- man; James Calvin, born September 15, 1876, married Ora Hilderbrand, January 29, 1900, Peculiar township; George Mason, born April 16, 1878, married Ada Arnold, October 30, 1906, and she died April 14, 1913; David Earl, born June 9, 1884, married Cora E. Collins, May 26, 1905, and resides in Peculiar township; and Charles Franklin, born July 8, 1887, married Nellie Shackelford, April 30, 1907, and resides in Big Creek township. The three older children were born in Virginia, Cass County, Illinois, and the others were born in Belton, Cass County, Missouri.
The Dobson boys are all industrious and progressive farmers. Mr. Dobson is a member of the Missionary Baptist church and is inclined towards independence in politics.
Mrs. R. A. McCall, widow of the late J. T. McCall, is truly a repre- sentative pioneer woman who has spent over thirty years of her life in Cass County. She bore the maiden name of Chandler and was born in Ohio, a daughter of Isaac H. and Alice Chandler, both descendants of English ancestry. The parents resided in Pennsylvania and later removed to Ohio, where the father worked at his trade, which was that of a tailor. He was a man of high moral character and held local office of trust and responsibility at various times and for a number of years was justice of the peace. However, his was a court of compromise rather than of legal contest. He always advised an amicable settlement of differences between would-be litigants and usually succeeded in reconciling the belligerent parties before going to trial and invariably effected a settlement out of court. He was well versed in the law and did the legal work incident to the settlement of many estates in the community. He frequently loaned money for his friends and neighbors. In those early times banking institutions were not as numerous as they are today, and many times he was intrusted with large amounts of cash. Mrs. McCall says that she remembers one time when a large sum of money was turned over to his
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father's keeping, that when it was poured out of the stockings and other places of seclusion that there was a peck measure full of coin and great anxiety prevailed concerning where would be a safe place to hide the money.
Mrs. McCall was one of a family of ten children born to her parents. only one of whom is now living besides Mrs. McCall, a brother, D. A. Chandler. Mrs. McCall came to Cass County in 1867 and returned to Ohio in 1869, where she was married to J. T. McCall and they returned to Missouri in 1881. He was a son of Thomas and Myrum McCall of Scotch and Irish descent. To J. T. and Mrs. McCall were born the fol- lowing children who are now living: Dr. Pearl C., Windfield, Kansas; Teressa Belle, Peculiar. Missouri; Loretta. Belton, Missouri; and Herschel, Beaver. Oklahoma. The father died in 1882, he was a man of Christian character whose influence was for the betterment of the community in which he spent his life.
Mrs. McCall has seen much of the pioneer life of Cass County. She recalls the many hardships and inconveniences which the pioneers experi- enced in the early days in Cass County, and at the same time she remem- bers with much pleasure the pleasant pastimes of the early days, and wonders, after all. if the pioneers of the fifties and sixties, with their limited means of life and entertainment were not just as happy, or even more so, than most people are in the artificial life and surroundings of these later days.
C. B. Ewers, a successful farmer and stockman of West Peculiar township. is a native son of Cass County and a descendant of one of its pioneer families. He was born in 1876 and is a son of Charles W. and Mary Ewers. The mother bore the maiden name of Wills and was a daughter of Alpheus Wills an early settler of Cass County. Charles W. Ewers served in the Confederate army during the Civil War and partici- pated in many notable battles among which was Gettysburg. He was severely wounded while in the service, as a result of which he lost a part of his right hand.
The Ewers family settled in Cass County in 1866, locating in West Peculiar township where Charles W. Ewers was engaged in farming and stock raising for a number of years. He was a man of high personal character and had an extensive acquaintance and made many friends in the community. He took an interest in local politics and served as town-
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ship collector several terms. Both he and his wife are now deceased. The Ewers is an extensive family broadly scattered throughout the United States and is especially well represented in Omaha, Nebraska, where a number of them are successful merchants and professional men.
C. B. Ewers was reared in Peculiar township and educated at High Hill district school. He was brought up on a farm and has made farm- ing and stock raising the chief occupation of his life and his efforts have been rewarded by very satisfactory financial results. In addition to rais- ing cattle he has bought and sold stock quite extensively and has handled a great many horses and mules.
C. B. Ewers was one of three children born to his parents, the other two being as follows: Mrs. Kate Welborn, Peculiar, Missouri; and Earl Ewers, Peculiar, Missouri.
. Mr. Ewers was married in 1901 to Miss Ella Thedens, a daughter of Peter Thedens who came from Iowa to Cass County about twenty years ago. To Mr. and Mrs. Ewers have been born two children, Gilbert and Llewellyn.
Mr. Ewers is a progressive citizen and one of the successful business men of Cass County.
I. R. Smith, a successful farmer and stockman of Mt. Pleasant town- ship is a native of Missouri and a descendant of a pioneer family of Jack- son County. He was born at Independence in 1855 and is a son of Thomas and Mary Ann (Collins) Smith, the former a native of Vermont and the latter of Kentucky. The father was a cooper and died in 1875.
I. R. Smith began life for himself as a farmer when he was about twenty years of age and for some years followed that line of work, when he entered the employ of Hoover Roads & Company, general managers for the Altman Miller Harvester Company, as an expert machinist. He had inherited a mechanical turn of mind from his father and his duties with this company were to travel on the road and look after their harvest- ing machines. He traveled over a large scope of territory for this con- cern for a number of years and found the work congenial. While on a trip in Kansas, in the scope of his employment, he tells of meeting another expert who was in employ of the same company and they took a day off and went fishing at Williamsburg, Kansas. While they were fishing, not far from each other, they both got a bite at the same time and in landing the fish they were surprised to find that both had caught the same fish.
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After a delightful day's fishing on full pay without the knowledge of their employers, Mr. Smith happened to be in the office at Kansas City one day and the first question that Mr. Rhodes asked him was "Well, Smith, how was fishing?" Mr. Smith says that's the first time in his life that he couldn't think of a thing to say. But, fishing was alright at that.
In 1887, Mr. Smith engaged in the grocery business at Belton but shortly afterwards sold his business and clerked in a grocery store at Belton for three years and in 1896 he rented the old Thomas Keeney homestead which was settled and homesteaded by the Keeney family in 1844 and he has operated this place for twenty years, which is a long time in the usual course of events for a tenant to remain on one farm and this is probably the record for Cass County. The relations between Mr. Smith and the owner of this place, Mrs. Alice McPherson, of Kansas City, have always been harmonious and Mr. Smith takes the same interest in the conduct of the place and the conservation of its soil as he would were it his own and keeps it in first class condition in every particular. In 1899 he won a prize of twenty-five dollars at the Belton fair for the best kept rented farm in Cass County. Another unusual feature in this instance, is that there has never been a written contract between the owner of this place and Mr. Smith and there never has been any misunderstanding nor dissatisfaction. He pays the customary rent and keeps the place in first class condition. He has a reputation of being one of the best farm- ers and stockmen in this section of the country. In 1916 he raised two thousand bushels of corn and a good corn crop in Cass County was an unusual thing that year.
Mr. Smith was married in 1879 to Miss Nannie Lee Keeney, a daugh- ter of Elijah and Sarah Jane (Wilson) Keeney. Mr. Keeney was a Cass County pioneer, who came to this county with his parents in 1844, and homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres of land. Mrs. Smith is the eldest of a family of seven children born to her parents, the others being as follows: Mrs. Maude Fitzgerald, Cass County; Mrs. Gertrude Woy- coff, Garnett, Kansas; Mrs. Stella May Whitaker, deceased; William A. Keeney, Lucas, Kansas; Jesse Robert, Keeney, Belton, Missouri, and Mrs. Maggie Dalton, Niles, Kansas. The mother of these children died in 1885 and the father passed away in 1893. He was a successful farmer and stockman and a Civil War veteran, having served in the Confederate army. During the Civil War times, some humorous things happened but most generally the events of those times were attended by the most seri-
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ous circumstances. Mrs. Smith tells of one of the Civil War incidents that happened in her family. She says that on the days before her father and mother were to be married, the Union soldiers stole his wedding suit and watch, but the wedding took place as scheduled, regardless of the vicissitudes of war.
To Mr. and Mrs. Smith have been born the following children: Mrs. Addie Lee, Hoback, Jackson County, Missouri; Charles Thomas, Belton, Missouri ; Mrs. Tiny Pearl Baldwin, Belton, Missouri; Homer Elijah, Belton, Missouri; Nellie Marie, Belton, Missouri; P. J., Belton, Missouri, and Joseph Franklin, Belton, Missouri.
The Smith family also suffered considerable loss and were driven from their home when the military invaders devastated Missouri, when Order No. 11 was issued and orders were given to move to some military post at once. Their horses had been stolen on the night preceding the order and they hastily loaded a wagon with a few of their belongings and borrowing some horses from a neighbor, proceeded to leave the military zone. They went to Illinois, remaining in that state until the close of the war, when they returned to their Jackson County home. A great many engage- ments took place at and in the vicinity of the Smith home in Jackson County and after returning to the home place Mr. Smith picked up a num- ber of relics of the conflicts, including a sword and a cannon ball, which he now has in his possession.
L. J. Strahan, agent for the St. Louis & San Francisco Railroad Com- pany at Belton, Missouri, perhaps comes into contact with the general public more in a business way than any other man in Belton. The detail work and responsibility that falls to the lot of the average railroad agent in a town of the size of Belton is very little understood or appreciated by the average person who occasionally appears at the ticket window for transportation to some point or another. Mr. Strahan was born near Sparta, Illinois, in 1860, and is a son of Blair and Mary Ann (Mccullough) Strahan. The father was an Illinois pioneer and one of the first settlers in the vicinity of Kaskaskia, that state. He broke and improved a farm there and was a very successful farmer and stockman. The Strahan family is of German descent; the mother, Mary Ann Mccullough, was a descendant of an old Southern family who migrated from Tennessee to South Carolina at an early date. She died in 1883 and her husband passed away in 1900. They were the parents of the following children: Charles
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M., Kansas City ; Henry, Oklahoma, Nebraska; Mrs. Jennie Christie, Kan- sas City, Missouri; Edwin, Colterville, Illinois; and L. J., the subject of this sketch.
L. J. Strahan was reared in Illinois and attended the public schools at Sparta, Illinois, and later took a course in the Colterville Academy. He graduated from the Sparta High School in the class of 1880. He was engaged in teaching in early life and taught school for three years in Washington County, Illinois, and then taught for a year in his old home school. In 1884 he came West, locating in Crawford County, Kansas, where he taught school for some years, when he began his railroad career as agent at Beulah, Crawford County, Kansas. Two years later he removed to Barton County, Missouri, and was agent at Minden, Missouri, for the Frisco railroad for eight years. In 1897 he was transferred to Belton as agent for the same company and has held that position ever since.
Mr. Strahan was married in 1884 to Miss Mary Elizabeth Christie, a daughter of James and Eliza Christie, of Illinois, and of Scotch-Irish descent. Mrs. Strahan has one sister living, Mrs. Belle C. Beall, Girard, Kansas. To Mr. and Mrs. Strahan have been born the following children: Gladys, a teacher in the Harrisonville High School, where she is instructor in Latin and German; Florence, principal of the Belton High School; and Hazel, a student in the Belton High School and a member of the senior class. The two older girls were educated in the public schools of Belton and Kansas University. Mr. Strahan obtained his education largely through his own efforts. His father, however, cooperated with him to a certain extent, as much as he was able to in the early days. He made his first money by raising a small piece of wheat on ground which his father furnished him and he used the proceeds of this to help pay for his education and during the course of his early career made money in other ways including teaching, etc.
Mr. Strahan owns the old Jeff Parks farm near Harrisonville and has a comfortable modern residence in Belton and also owns twenty-five acres of suburban property at Lawrence, Kansas. He is a progressive and enterprising citizen and the Strahan family are well known and pop- ular in Belton and vicinity.
W. W. Waltmire, a prominent stockman of Raymore township, is a native of Tazewell County, Illinois. He was born in 1856 and is a son of Jerome and Jane Waltmire. The father was a native of Switzerland and
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when he was four years old his parents embarked on a voyage from their native land to America and while on the voyage the father and mother, two brothers and a sister died. Jerome was one of four brothers, who survived and upon landing they were sold for their passage and bound out until it was paid. Jerome grew to manhood and became a teacher and a druggist. He was an early settler in Illinois and was one of the pioneers of the Shorthorn cattle industry in that state. He was a very extensive breeder and became a wealthy man. He was liberal and used his fortune in a noble effort to help his fellowmen. He was widely known as "Uncle Jerome". He was an elder in the Christian church for a number of years and died in 1896 at the age of eighty-three and his wife died in 1900 at seventy-five years of age. They were the parents of eleven chil- dren, those living are as follows: Milton, Carbondale, Kansas; Appollos, Pekin, Illinois; Mrs. Mollie R. Roberts, Carbondale, Kansas; Mrs. Ollie Nichols, Sullivan, Indiana; and W. W., the subject of this sketch.
W. W. Waltmire was reared to manhood in Illinois and in 1876 began his career in that state as a dealer in Shorthorn cattle. In 1879 he went to Kansas, settling at Carbondale, where he continued the stock business until 1893, then moved to Delaware, Illinois, where he lived until 1902, engaging in the lumber and coal business, at the same time retaining his interest in the cattle and hog business. He then came to Cass County, Missouri, and bought one hundred and sixty acres of land in Raymore township, where he has since been engaged in general farming and stock breeding. He now has about thirty-one head. He usually sells his Short- horn cattle when calves, for which he received prices ranging all the way from fifty to three hundred and fifty dollars each. Mr. Waltmire is also one of the most extensive breeders of pure bred sheep in Cass County. He handles Oxfords, Hampshires and Southdowns and has imported a number of very valuable sheep from England. He paid three hundred and fifty dollars for one male sheep, which was imported from England, and this animal has won prizes at stock shows and exhibitions on both sides of the Atlantic. Mr. Waltmire also raises pure bred hogs, making a specialty of the Chester White breed and this department of his stock has won a number of blue ribbons. He has won altogether, with his sheep, hogs and Shorthorn cattle, over two thousand of these ribbons at various fairs, stock shows and exhibitions.
Mr. Waltmire added to his original purchase of land in Cass County until he now owns three hundred and twenty acres, over one hundred and eighty acres of which are devoted to grass.
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Mr. Waltmire was married in 1881, to Miss Addie D. Drake, a daugh- ter of Jonathan and Sarah Drake of Green Valley, Illinois. To Mr. and Mrs. Waltmire have been born five children as follows: Mrs. S. Maude Ketteman, Pleasant Hill, Missouri; J. Gilbert, George W. H., Martin and Jerome J., all residing in Raymore township.
Mr. Waltmire is a Republican and at present holds the office of justice of the peace and has been a member of the school board for fourteen years. He became a member of the Christian church at the age of nineteen and has held the office of elder for thirty-six years. He is an enthusiastic Sunday school worker and has been a Sunday school superintendent for thirty-five years, fifteen of which he was superintendent of the Bethany Sunday school of Cass County. He is a member of the Masonic Lodge and the Knights of Pythias.
The Waltmire place is known as "Walnut Park" and was so named after a splendid Walnut park of about five acres in the vicinity of the residence, which is an eleven room modern structure of a beautiful and imposing appearance. Mr. Waltmire is one of Cass County's most sub- stantial and progressive citizens and is well known and highly respected.
M. F. Boren, now deceased, was a Cass County pioneer and an hon- ored veteran of the Civil War, who during that great. conflict cast his lot with the "lost cause". Mr. Boren was born in Simpson County, Ken- tucky, in 1837, a son of Bennett and Matilda (Chaney) Boren. He came to Missouri in early manhood and a few years later went to Louisburg, Kansas, where he took up a homestead. For several years he freighted between Leavenworth and Pikes Peak. In 1862, he enlisted in the Con- federate army and served under General Price for three years. At the close of the war he came to Cass County and settled near Belton, where he was successfully engaged in farming and stock raising the remainder of his life. He began life under adverse circumstances, without capital, and endured many hardships and privations in the early life. He was a man of many excellent personal qualities and shaped his life according to the teaching of the golden rule.
In 1868, M. F. Boren was united in marriage with Miss Carrie A. Dye, a native of Kentucky, born April 18, 1843, and a daughter of Isaac and Elizabeth (Alderson) Dye, also natives of Kentucky. Mrs. Boren is the only survivor of a family of seven children born to her parents. To Mr. and Mrs. Boren was born one child, Carrie Lou, now the wife of A. J. Sears, and they reside on the Dye homestead with Mrs. Boren.
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A. J. Sears was born in Cass County and is a son of James S. and Martha J. (Thompson) Sears, who were very early settlers in Cass County and natives of Kentucky. James S. Sears came here in 1846; he was an extensive land owner and dealt largely in cattle in the early day and was a very successful business man. He was a very religious man and a con- sistent member of the Methodist church.
A. J. Sears was educated in Harrisonville High School and Chilli- cothe Normal School and taught school in Cass County for ten years. He was one of the following children born to his parents: Mrs. Nancy L. Freeman, Harrisonville; W. C., LeRoy, Kansas; Mrs. Sarah J. Hann, Buhl, Idaho; Mrs. Mary E. Todd, Belton, Missouri; J. H., Cleveland, Missouri ; C. R., Cleveland, Missouri; E. H., Hastings, Nebraska; Mrs. Mattie A. Reynolds, Slaton, Texas; and A. J. To A. J. Sears and wife the follow- ing children have been born: Aileen E., born July 24, 1897; Paul D., born February 17, 1902; and Hazel G., born August 3, 1910, all of whom reside at home with their parents.
Mrs. Boren relates many interesting incidents of pioneer life and says that the early days were not so lonesome and unpleasant after all. The early settlers enjoyed their various social gatherings and now and then attended camp meetings which in the early day were more or less of an annual affair. She is a member of the Baptist church, having identified herself with that denomination when she was eighteen years old and has been active in the work of her church all these years. Mrs. Boren takes a keen interest in the affairs of life generally. She with Mr. and Mrs. A. J. Sears are joint owners and reside on the old Dye homestead. Mrs. Boren has resided in Cass County since she was ten years of age except from 1863 to 1865, when her parents were compelled to leave Cass County on account of General Ewing's famous Order No. 11, and went to Clinton County, Missouri.
George W. Johnson, a well known farmer and dairyman of Mt. Pleas- ant township belongs to a pioneer Missouri family. Mr. Johnson was born in Platt county in 1866, and is a son of George and Catherine (Cal- vert) Johnson. The father came to Missouri with his parents at a very early day and settled on Platt Purchase which is now known as Platt County. Here he homesteaded a section of land and brought with him from Kentucky a number of negroes. He operated a plantation there for a number of years, becoming what was then considered a very wealthy
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man. , The old Johnson homestead consisted of a large brick house, typical of the early day plantations and the negro cabins were numerous on the place. He died prior to the Civil War and his vast estate was dis- tributed among his five children, one of whom was the father of the sub- ject of this sketch and two of whom are now living; R. M., Belton, Mis- souri; and Mrs. Laura Harrington, Dearborn, Missouri. George John- son, the father of George W., was engaged in the grocery business for a time in partnership with his brother, R. M. He died in 1866. George W. Johnson's mother, Catherine Calvert, was a daughter of Smith Cal- vert and her mother bore the maiden name of Casandra Brannon, both of whom were natives of Kentucky. Smith Calvert was a descendant of Lord Baltimore and there is now in existence in Baltimore, Maryland, a society known as "Calvert Heirs Association", of which George W., the subject of this sketch is a member. Benjamine Holliday, who owned and operated the first stage coach that carried mail from West Port, Missouri, to San Francisco, California, was related to this family by marriage.
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