USA > Missouri > Cass County > History of Cass County, Missouri > Part 75
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Mr. Longwell has always taken a keen interest in local politics and has served as collector and justice of the peace of Everett township. He is a member of the Baptist church, and has been a deacon since 1879. At the present time he is clerk of the Baptist church at Archie.
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E. L. Schuyler, the present postmaster of Austin, is a native of Cass County, whose parents settled here over fifty years ago. He is a son of E. W. and Carrie C. (McDonnell) Schuyler, both descendants of Ca- nadian ancestry. They came to Cass County in 1866, settling on a farm two miles northeast of Austin, where the father bought eighty acres of land. He followed farming for a time, but later worked at the paint- ers' trade, and spent the remainder of his life in that vicinity. He died in 1905, and the mother makes her home with E. L., the subject of this sketch. She is past eighty years old and is active both physically and mentally for one of her advanced years.
E. L. Schuyler received a public school education, and has prac- tically made his own way in the world since he was ten years old. When a boy he worked for twenty-five cents per day, and at an early age began to speculate in a small way with his meager earnings. He remembers his first investment-a hog, which he sold at a profit. When he was about fifteen years old he went to work in Anthony's store at Austin, and remained there for seven years. He then went to Oklahoma, where he remained for some months, and upon his return he entered the em- ploy of the Missouri Pacific Railroad Company as a painter, with head- quarters at Osawatomie, Kansas, and remained in the employ of that company for six years. He then returned to Austin and was engaged in the mercantile business for four years. In 1914 he entered the em- ploy of Moon Brothers, general merchants at that place, where he has since been employed. He was appointed postmaster of Austin in 1914, and conducts that office in connection with his duties in the store.
Mr. Schuyler was married in 1901 to Miss Alma A. Whitman, a daughter of G. F. and Nora Whitman, early settlers of Cass County. To Mr. and Mrs. Schuyler have been born two children, Walter F., and Howard A., both residing at home with their parents.
Mr. Schuyler remembers when much of the country in the vicinity of Austin was open prairie, and he herded cattle on this fenceless plain in the early day. His first teacher was E. B. Ursey, and he remembers Rev. Deane as being one of the first preachers to conduct services in that vicinity.
Mr. Schuyler is a Democrat and has always taken an active interest in political affairs. He has served as township assessor two terms, and was the first Democrat to be elected in Austin township for a period of eighteen years. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and
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for a number of years has been superintendent of the Sunday School. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and one of the progressive citizens of Austin township.
W. G. Ward, a Cass County pioneer, who is now a successful farmer and stockman of Everett township, is a native of Indiana. He was born in 1849, and is a son of Matthew and Sarah (Blue) Ward. Matthew Ward was a son of Isaac Ward, a Pennsylvanian, and Sarah Blue was a native of Indiana and a daughter of Daniel Blue, a pioneer of that state, who settled in the wilderness of Indiana at a very early day.
W. G. Ward came to Missouri with his parents when he was about four years old, in 1853. The family first settled in Holt County, and in 1869 came to Cass County, where the father was successfully en- gaged in farming and stock raising. He and his wife are both deceased. They were the parents of one son, W. G., the subject of this sketch.
After the death of his parents W. G. Ward continued to operate the home farm, and has made farming and stock raising his life's occu- pation and has met with a very satisfactory degree of success. He began in Cass County when this section of the country was in its primitive state, at that time being mostly one broad expanse of unbroken prairie. When Mr. Ward was a boy he broke prairie with ox teams and he recalls the time when Pleasant Hill was the nearest railroad station, and he has frequently hauled lumber and other supplies from that point. He has seen much of the hardships and inconveniences of pioneer life in Cass County, and while those early days had their hardships, they also had their recompense, and Mr. Ward has many pleasant recollections of the early days in Cass County. He has been successful as a farmer and a stock raiser and has accumulated a vast farm of three hundred eighty acres. In addition to his activities as a farmer and stock raiser he has also dealt quite extensively in stock in which he has also been successful, and today is one of the well-to-do men of Everett township.
Mr. Ward was united in marriage in 1877 with Miss Miranda Hor- ton and five children were born to this union, three of whom are living, as follows : Mrs. Gertrude McNallally, Glendine, Montana; James, Drexel, Missouri; and Mrs. Mary C. Dudley, Drexel, Missouri. The wife and mother of these children died in 1887, and in 1901 Mr. Ward was married to Mrs. E. Beckham, widow of the late James H. Beckham.
Mr. Ward has a store of interesting reminiscences of the early days
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in Cass County, and recalls the memory of many of the old pioneers, nearly all of whom have passed to the Great Beyond. He recalls Luke P. Chambers, "Uncle Jimmie" Williams and Demsey Summers, as being among the pioneer preachers. Mr. Ward is of genial spirit and one who makes and keeps friends. He has a broad acquaintance over this sec- tion of the state and is held in the highest esteem.
F. B. Hey, a well-known insurance and loan man of Drexel, Missouri, who is also an extensive land owner, is a native of Missouri. He was born in Clay County, in 1864, and is a son of Christian and Mary (Chand- ler) Hey. The father was a native of Germany and immigrated to America when he was eighteen years old, settling at Westport, Missouri. Later he went to Clay County, where he spent the remainder of his life engaged in farming and stock raising. He died in 1885 and his widow now resides in Clay County. She is a daughter of William Chandler, a Kentuckian, who was an early settler in Clay County.
F. B. Hey was reared in Clay County and received his education in the public schools. He began life as a farmer, and in 1887 came to Cass County and bought two hundred acres of land north of Main City. Three years later he engaged in the mercantile business at Main City, which he conducted in connection with his farming operations. After being in the mercantile business nine years he traded his interest for a farm and in 1900 moved to Drexel. Here he engaged in the live stock business for three years, when he became interested in the Drexel Mer- cantile Company and devoted all his time to that business for nine years, the last three years serving as president of the company. When he sold his interest in that business he began dealing quite extensively in farm property and bought and sold land at considerable profit for four years. He then engaged in the loan and insurance business, which has since oc- cupied his time. Mr. Hey owns four hundred forty-five acres of land and is also actively engaged in farming and stock raising. He makes a specialty of raising pure blood Duroc Jersey hogs.
In 1888 Mr. Hey was united in marriage with Miss Ruth Broadhurst, a daughter of Judge John Broadhurst of Clay County, Missouri. Four chil- dren were born to this union: Claude, Eva, John, and Lynn. The wife and mother died in 1904, and in 1911 Mr. Hey was married to Miss Anna Hausen, a daughter of John C. Hausen, of Clay County, and one child has been born to this union, Charles Woodrow. Mr. Hey is one of Drexel's progressive and substantial citizens.
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Philip H. Thornton, a successful farmer and stock raiser of Pleasant Hill township, is a Kentuckian. He was born in Montgomery County, that state, in 1846, a son of Charles T. and Kate (Hathaway) Thornton, both natives of Kentucky, the former born in Parish and the latter at Mount Sterling. The parents were married in Kentucky and all of their children, except Kate, the youngest, was born in that state. They are as follows: W. T., deceased; C. T., Pleasant Hill, Missouri; Philip H., the subject of this sketch; John A., Pleasant Hill, Missouri; David A., deceased ; James A., Pleasant Hill, Missouri; Mrs. Mary Bryam, Harri- sonville, Missouri; and Mrs. Kate M. Alexander, Los Angeles, California. All of the boys were educated in the public school of Pleasant Hill, and the girls received their education in the Harrisburg Female College, Har- risburg, Kentucky, and are both graduates of that institution.
Charles T. Thornton came to Cass County, Missouri, with his fam- ily in 1857, and bought two hundred seventy acres of land from James Fleming, four miles northeast of the town of Pleasant Hill, in Pleasant Hill township, where he was a prosperous farmer and stock raiser to the time of his death. He added more land to his original holdings and left three hundred forty acres. He suffered considerable financial loss during the Civil War, which was the common lot of many. When Order No. 11 was issued the Thornton family moved to Chariton County, where they remained until the close of the war, and during that time much damage was done on their place. They lost all their personal property and even the fences were either burned or carried away, but for some unknown reason the house was left standing.
Philip H. Thornton has always followed farming and stock raising and is one of the successful and substantial men of the community. He owns a part of the old Thornton homestead and his brothers own the balance. They are thrifty and well-to-do citizens.
Thomas Hale, a prosperous and well known farmer and stockman of Pleasant Hill township is a native son of Cass County. He was born in 1872 and is a son of James and Nannie (Dillow) Hale. The father is a native of Canada and came to Cass County and came to Cass County and settled in Big Creek township shortly after the close of the Civil War. He and his wife now reside in Cass County. They are the par- ents of three children, as follows: William, farmer, Big Creek town- ship; James, farmer, Pleasant Hill township; and Thomas, the subject of this sketch.
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Thomas Hale was reared on his father's farm and educated in the public schools of Cass County. He has made farming and stock raising his life's occupation, and has given the science of agriculture and animal husbandry careful study. His well-kept place and splendid residence and other farm buildings bear all the earmarks of a progressive Twentieth Century farmer. He is an extensive cattle and hog feeder and for twenty years has been very successful in this field of endeavor. He has shipped annually from two to four carloads of cattle and hogs. In 1901, Mr. Hale bought two hundred acres of land at twenty-eight dollars an acre, and a few years later he added one hundred acres to his original purchase at a cost of sixty dollars an acre. His land is all well improved and in an excellent state of cultivation and his is one of the valuable farms of Cass County. It is well supplied with water, which makes of it an ideal place for stock raising.
Mr. Hale was married in 1894 to Miss Mollie Davidson, a daughter of William Davidson, a Cass County pioneer, who located at Pleasant Hill shortly after the Civil War. To Mr. and Mrs. Hale have been born two children, Carrie and Thomas, both residing at home.
A. J. Small, a prominent farmer and stockman of Big Creek town- ship, was born near Baxter Springs, Kansas, in 1866. He is a son of James and Varlendia (Ingrum) Small, the former a native of Kentucky, and the latter of Lafayette, Missouri. They were the parents of the fol- lowing children: Mrs. Betty Armstrong, died in Saline County, Mis- souri; Mrs. Eva Webster, resides in Wichita, Kansas; Johanna, died at the age of three years; and A. J., the subject of this sketch.
James Small located in Polk township when he first came to Cass County, and made his home in that township about five years. He lo- cated in Big Creek township in 1866. He purchased his first land here from Daniel Peck. He died in 1876, and his wife died at the home of A. J. in 1909.
A. J. Small still owns the original home of twenty acres in Big Creek township, which his father bought over fifty years ago, and he has added to it from time to time, until he now owns one hundred sixty acres of splendid land, which is worth at a conservative estimation, one hundred dollars an acre. He carries on general farming and stock raising and usually keeps on hand about fifteen or twenty milch cows. He also makes a specialty of Duroc Jersey hogs. Mr. Small is also a successful alfalfa
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grower and now has twenty-five acres devoted to that crop and forty acres under blue grass.
Mr. Small was united in marriage in 1892 with Miss Nannie Smith, daughter of John C. Smith, of Big Creek township. Mr. Smith is a Cass County pioneer who came to this section of the state prior to the Civil War, and when Order No. 11 was issued he went to Centralia, Missouri, where he remained until the close of the war. He is now eighty-three years of age. His wife died in 1889, and her remains now rest in the Pleasant Hill Cemetery. John C. and Nannie Smith were the parents of the following children: Telethia, married Irvin M. Payne, Big Creek township; Lucy, married Lee Berry, and died in 1913; George, resides at Pleasant Hill; Nannie, married A. J. Small, whose name introduces this sketch, and Cora, died at the age of three years. All of the above named were born at Pleasant Hill, Missouri.
To Mr. and Mrs. A. J. Small have been born ten children, as follows: Lola, married Jesse Hayes, Big Creek township; Alma, married Clarence Parrish, Big Creek township; and Claud, George, Pearl, Alexander, Nan- nie, Lillie, Lennie, and John, all reside at home with their parents.
Mr. Small is one of the substantial citizens of Cass County, and the Small family are well known and stand high in the community where they reside.
Arthur L. Feeback, a prosperous and enterprising young farmer and banker of Latour, Missouri, was born in Bates County, Missouri, in 1880. He is the son of Joseph L. and Mollie (Graves) Feeback, the former was born in Kentucky in 1847, and came to Missouri in 1866 with his father, Elyob Feeback. They located in Index township. Elyob Feeback was a native of Bourbon County, Kentucky. He was a soldier in the Civil War. The mother, Mollie (Graves) Feeback, was born in North Carolina in 1850. Joseph L. Feeback died in 1911 and his wife departed this life in 1893, and they are buried in Index Cemetery. They were the parents of seven children, two of whom died in infancy, and those living are: Mrs. Nora Corbin, Index township; Arthur L., the subject of this sketch; Odena B., resides with her brother, Arthur L .; Mrs. Mattie Nease, widow of the late A. L. Nease; and Lena L., Latour, Missouri.
Arthur L. Feeback was educated in the public schools of Cass County, and his father moved to Mr. Feeback's present home, thirty-four years ago, and lived there until the time of his death,
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Arthur L. Feeback has made farming and stock raising his principal occupation except ten years when he was assistant cashier of the Bank of Latour. He is now one of the directors of that institution and still assists in the work of the bank at times. His father was one of the organizers of this bank and was its president at the time of his death.
The Bank of Latour, Missouri, is a prosperous and well-managed bank. It was organized in 1895 with a capital stock of eleven thousand dollars. J. G. Farnsworth was its first cashier. He is now president of the Farmers and Commercial Bank of Holden, Missouri. The Bank of Latour now has a capital stock and surplus of twenty thousand dollars. C. A. Dovenspike is cashier and Arthur L. Feeback assistant cashier. It is the only bank at Latour, and owns its own building.
Mr. Feeback and his father have fed cattle on the farm every year with the exception of two, since they came here. At present, Mr. Fee- back has sixty-two head on the one hundred and eighty acres of the original three hundred and sixty. Mr. Feeback has raised hogs exten- sively also and has been very successful in this line. His farm is well improved and one of the valuable places of Cass County.
Mr. Feeback is a member of the township board of Index township, having been elected in 1916. In Mr. Feeback's road district (number three) there is not a wooden culvert, all being of concrete construction. He is a member of the Masonic Lodge at East Lynne and the Central Protective Association and the Order of the Eastern Star at Garden City. He is unmarried.
W. S. Buckley, or "Scott" Buckley, as he is familiarly known, is a prominent Cass County farmer, located in Index township. He is a native of Kentucky, born in 1847, and is a son of the late William and Amanda (Mears) Buckley, both natives of Kentucky and of pioneer Kentucky stock. They were the parents of two children, but Scott Buckley is the only one living. By a former marriage, William Buckley has one daugh- ter living, Mrs. M. M. Wills.
William Buckley came to Cass County from his native state in 1867, and located in Index township on the place which Scott Buckley now occupies. He bought the farm from Ben Taylor, paying eleven dollars an acre for part of it. At the time of his death he owned six hundred forty acres, of which Scott Buckley has three hundred sixty-five acres, and Mrs. Wills two hundred eighty acres. William Buckley was a stock-
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man and farmer, and was one of the successful men of affairs of Cass County.
William Buckley had three brothers who settled in Cass County : Chambers and Charles Buckley came in 1868 and Edward Buckley came in 1867, shortly after William came. Chambers died in Benton County, Missouri: Edward died in Index township, and Charles died in Okla- homa. David Lawrence, a son of Charles Buckley, who came to Cass County with his father, now makes his home with "Scott" Buckley.
"Scott" Buckley received his education in the district schools of Kentucky and of Cass County. He remained at home with his father, of whom he was very fond, and worked with him as a partner until the father's death, which occurred in 1905.
W. S. Buckley married Miss Minnie Ladd of Index township. She is a daughter of Thomas Ladd, a Kentuckian who was an early settler in Cass County. He died about 1901. To Mr. and Mrs. Buckley has been born one child, William, aged fourteen.
When a boy, Mr. Buckley accidentally shot himself and for two years was a cripple, but the ball was finally located and removed and since that time he has felt no particular evil effect. He is a decidedly young appearing man for his age and of a quiet and retiring disposition. He is one of Cass County's progressive and substantial citizens and stands ever ready to support any worthy enterprise.
K. S. Johnson, a leading farmer and stockman of Index township, who is owner and proprietor of the "Four Leaf Clover Farm," although comparatively a new resident of Cass County, is one of the most promi- nent and influential stock raisers in this part of the state. Mr. Johnson was born in Kentucky in 1860, and went to Menard County, Illinois, in 1883. He worked by the month for three years, and then bought two hundred forty-seven and a half acres of land for seventy dollars an acre. In 1912, fourteen years later, he sold that land for two hundred dollars an acre, which was a very profitable transaction.
In March, 1912, Mr. Johnson came to Cass County, and purchased from Richard O'Brannon the fine stock farm of five hundred twenty acres, lying two and a quarter miles northeast of Garden City in Index township, on which land was originally located the town and postoffice of Schuyler. Here Mr. Johnson has been successfully engaged in farming and stock raising to the present time.
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The farm is well improved with a ten thousand dollar residence which was built in 1893. One barn, built in 1902, 40 x 100 feet, has a capacity of one hundred and sixty tons of hay; there is also a feed barn 46 x 100 feet, with a capacity of one hundred head of cattle, and it will also hold six thousand bushels of corn and one hundred tons of hay. There is also a good house and barn on the southwest part of the farm.
In the fall of 1913, Mr. Johnson drilled a well six hundred sixty-six feet deep, striking an abundance of good, wholesome soft water. This water stood within sixty feet of the surface when nearly all the other wells and streams in the neighborhood were dry. After ten hours of continuous pumping with a gas engine, which Mr. Johnson has installed, the water was not lowered an inch.
Mr. Johnson handled Percheon horses and mules until the fall of 1917, when he held a sale, selling fifty head, and is now directing his attention to raising Duroc Jersey hogs eligible for registry. He owns two hundred head of this breed of hogs, a valuable flock of sheep and intends giving attention to that kind of stock also. He has built five miles of wire fence since coming to the farm, all but eighty acres of which are now fenced hog-tight. Hedgewood posts are used, and the cor- ner posts are set in concrete.
K. S. Johnson was married January 14, 1885, to Miss Harriet Kin- caid of Athens, Menard County, Illinois. They are the parents of six children, as follows: Harry, who is in the United States Navy, at present on board the U. S. S. North Carolina, and was with that ship when money was taken to stranded tourists in Europe at the breaking out of the present European War. He enlisted at St. Louis, and has been in the service six years. Thomas K., resides on the home farm; Hugh F., married Gladys O'Bannon, also lives on the home farm; Kirby V. and Harriet Alice, both at home.
Mr. Johnson is a progressive and enterprising citizen and a strong advocate of rock roads and other modern improvements.
Dr. Waldo Pleasant Van Hoy, successful veterinary surgeon, of Index, was born in Sherman township in 1860. He is a son of Dr. James H. and Mary Ann (Bailey) Van Hoy. Both of his parents were of southern birth, his father being a native of North Carolina and his mother of Tennessee.
Mary Ann (Bailey) Van Hoy, the mother, is perhaps the oldest
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living resident of Cass County, having lived here for eighty years. She was born in Roan County, Tennessee, January 13, 1836. She came to Cass, then Van Buren County in 1857, with her parents Pleasant F. and Jeannette (Matheeny) Bailey, who located upon a farm in Big Creek township. Her father and mother both died on the farm southwest of Pleasant Hill. The father died February 4, 1852, and the mother passed away several years later, and they are buried in the Old Union Cemetery, west of Pleasant Hill. They were both devout Christians and every night family worship was held in their home. Mary A. Bailey joined the Baptist Church when she was twelve years old. She began teaching school at the age of sixteen and taught several terms on the subscription plan. She was married to Dr. James Van Hoy February 5, 1854, at the old home, near Pleasant Hill. Rev. Henry Farmer performed the cere- mony.
Dr. and Mrs. Van Hoy moved to a location five miles south of Index and a short distance west of old Wodensburg, where the Doctor entered two hundred acres of land. The surrounding country was then all open prairie. They continued to do most of their trading at Pleasant Hill and went back and forth with an ox team. Mrs. Van Hoy relates that during one trip the oxen got very thirsty and, approaching a creek, became unmanagable and rushed madly down the bank into the water, oxen, wagon and all, before the doctor had the silghtest chance to unhitch them. In 1865 the Van Hoys removed to Index, where Dr. Van Hoy died in 1888. He is buried in Index cemetery; so also are his two daugh- ters. While living at Index he conducted a drug store and also sold dry goods. Dr. James H. Van Hoy and his wife were the parents of three children: Gertrude, married Lysander Burdette; Ella, married S. O. Goode and Dr. Waldo Pleasant, the subject of this sketch. Both Mrs. Burdette and Mrs. Goode are deceased.
Dr. Waldo Pleasant Van Hoy received his early education in the schools of Index township, and remained at home with his parents until he was twenty-seven years old. He then moved to the Captain Withers farm, but his father's death occurred one year later, and he returned to the home place at Index where he has since lived. While yet a boy he became interested in veterinary work, and his father, being a doctor, was able to give him much valuable assistance in his studies. He soon became so skillful in treating the ills of animals that his services were in constant demand in the neighborhood and he had acquired a large prac-
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