USA > Missouri > Platte County > History of Clay and Platte Counties, Missouri : written and compiled from the most authentic official and private sources, including a history of their townships, towns, and villages, together with a condensed history of Missouri; a reliable and detailed history of Clay and Platte Counties --their pioneer record, resources, biographical sketches of prominent citizens. > Part 31
USA > Missouri > Clay County > History of Clay and Platte Counties, Missouri : written and compiled from the most authentic official and private sources, including a history of their townships, towns, and villages, together with a condensed history of Missouri; a reliable and detailed history of Clay and Platte Counties --their pioneer record, resources, biographical sketches of prominent citizens. > Part 31
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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.
makes a special study of blooded horses and jacks, and selects his stock for breeding purposes from the classes, and, indeed, from the families of breeds which are recognized by common consent to be the best. Annually he sells a number of young stallions and jacks bred and raised on his place. He finds it but little more trouble and expense to raise a fine animal than it would to raise a scrub, whereas, with the first there is a large profit, and with the other little or no profit, if not a loss. Certainly he is correct in the idea that this is the only true and sensible theory of successful stock-raising. Mr. Brasfield was born in Chariton county, Mo., in December, 1827, but was reared in Clay county. His parents were Leonard and Lucretia Brasfield, who went from Virginia in an early day to Madison county, Ky. From there he came to Missouri in 1821, and located in Howard county. From there they shortly removed to Chariton county, and then settled permanently in Clay county in 1829. The father was a successful farmer of this county, and an enterprising stock-raiser. He died here in 1867; the mother died in 1871. William E., who was brought up to farming and stock-raising, went to California in 1849, and was absent two years, engaged in mining on Wood's creek with some success. Returning in 1851, he resumed farming, and raising and dealing in stock, and in 1854 took a drove of cattle across the plains to California, where he sold them to good advantage. He then came back, and ever since that time has confined himself to his farm and the stock business in this county. In 1855 he was married to Miss Sarah J. Estes, a daughter of William and Malinda Estes, the father a native of Virginia but her mother from Tennessee. They came to Missouri from Tennessee in 1817. They have four children : Amanda, the wife of John Dale ; Annie B., the wife of William Davis ; William L. and. Hettie. Mr. Brasfield is a man who appreciates the importance of education, and gave his children the benefits of college instruction.
HON. LUKE W. BURRIS (Clerk of the County Court, Clay county, Mo.).
The period of Mr. Burris' adult life up to the present time has been chiefly spent in two counties of this State, and from both he has been the recipient of enviable political honors. The county in which he was principally reared - Washington county - he represented with honor and ability in the State Legislature, after having held numerous other public trusts. Removing thence to this county after the close of his term as representative of Washington county, in 1853, he has been repeatedly honored here with the suffrages of the people in a manner not less creditable to him personally and as a trusted official than were the confidence and esteem in which he was held where he was reared. In 1864 he was the nominee of the Democratic party on the ticket with Hon. Thomas L. Price for Lieutenant-Governor, and if the people of Missouri could then have had, as they now have, " a free ballot and a fair count " he would undoubtedly have been elected.
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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.
In the fall of 1870, after having twice represented Clay county in the Legislature, he was prevailed upon by his friends in this county to accept the office of county court clerk, to which he was elected by a highly flattering majority, and ever since that time he has been content to continue in that position, having been consecutively rechosen to the office by the people at each quadriennial election. At the close of his present term he will have served the people in this position for 16 years. Mr. Burris was a son of one of the pioneer settlers of Central Missouri. His father, David Burris, came to this State from Ken- tucky when a young man, away back in the early territorial days of the country. He first located in Howard county, and planted and raised a crop of corn the year when corn was first raised in that county, but soon afterwards made his home in Cooper county, near Boonville. He was an active participant in all the early Indian wars of the coun- try, and was as brave an Indian fighter and deadly a shot with his trusted rifle as ever faced the foe of the forest or drew bead on a treacherous savage. Long after his death his widow drew a pension from the government on account of his services in protecting the homes of the early settlers of Missouri. He was married near Fayette in about 1812 to Miss Susan Monroe, a daughter of William Monroe, another brave-hearted pioneer settler from Kentucky. Their honey- moon and some years afterwards were spent principally in Cooper's Fort, for in those days no " pale-face " was safe where a red man's bullet could reach him from ambush. Luke W. Burris was born at Boonville August 2, 1817. In about 1830 the family removed to Texas, then a country even wilder and more weird than Missouri. But they returned in a short time to this State and settled in Washington county. In 1850 the father, though well advanced in years, still had the fire of the old pioneer in him, and felt equal to a journey across the plains to the Pactolian lands of the Pacific coast. He accordingly went to Cali- fornia and engaged in mining, but never lived to return. He died and was buried on the distant shore of the Pacific sea, where his remains still rest, wrapped in the sleep that shall be broken only by the final acclaim of immortal life. Mr. Burris was reared in Washington county, and as he grew up learned the lessons, by the experiences through which he passed, of industry, frugal habits and economy. These he has never forgotten. They have ever been characteristics of his sub- sequent life and conduct. Though brought up in a condition of society where the incentives for an education were by no means great, and where the opportunities for culture were even less, he had the intelli- gence and sagacity to see that learning, at least, a sufficient knowledge of books for all practical affairs of life, was of the first importance. Without the advantage of local schools, except for a period of about six months, he nevertheless applied himself to study. When 17 years of age, to use his own expression, he did not " know one figure from another ; " but by close attention to his books at home during what leisure he had from his daily employments, he succeeded in mastering the elements of an ordinary English education. He has always been remarked for his pleasant, affable manners, his kindly disposition and
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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.
the frankness and generosity of his nature. He has, therefore, ever been a popular man among all who knew him wherever he resided. Well qualified by education and natural aptitude for the discharge of official duties, and a man of thorough integrity of character, it is therefore not surprising that most of his adult life has been spent in positions of public trust. When quite a young man he was elected constable of his township in Washington county, which he held with great satisfaction to the public and increasing popularity for several years. He was then elected county assessor, and at the close of his term, in 1844, in that office, was elected sheriff of the county. Fol- lowing his first term as sheriff he was re-elected, and immediately after his second term, in 1850, he was elected a member of the Legis- lature, where he made an honorable and enviable record as a worthy and faithful representative. Mr. Burris came to Clay county in 1853, and for a number of years afterwards was actively engaged here in in- dustrial pursuits. For five years he ran a saw and grist mill at Mis- souri City, and then was a member of the firm of Arthur, Burris & Co., of Liberty Landing, in a large hemp manufactory, up to the time of the war. In 1860 he was elected a member of the Legislature from this county as a Whig, and in 1862 was re-elected by the people gen- erally without opposition. At the close of his second term in the Legislature from this county he became the Democratic nominee for Lieutenant-Governor, but, as stated elsewhere, he was defeated.
In the spring of 1865 he removed to St. Louis, and was en- gaged in the commission business for about four years, when he returned to Liberty. The year following his return he was elected county clerk, and, as stated above, he has continued to hold the office ever since that time. Though now past the age of 67 he is still active and efficient in the discharge of his official duties, giving his personal attention to his office. He is well known among the officials of the State as one of the best county clerks within its borders, and is not less popular in official circles where he is known than among the people of his own county. On the 12th of October, 1848, at Potosi, Washington county, he was married to Miss C. E. Mitchell, daughter of Thomas S. Mitchell, who died when she was quite young. She was a step-daughter of Dr. Henry Culver, and was born in Washington, D. C., but principally reared in Maryland. She was partly educated at St. Louis by the Mauro sisters. Mr. and Mrs. Burris reared but one child, a son, William M. Burris, now a prominent attorney of Kansas City. Mr. Burris and wife are members of the Episcopal Church, and he has been a member of the Odd Fellows' Order for over 40 years, holding all the positions in the different lodges with which he has been connected.
COL. ALEXANDER J. CALHOUN
(Retired Merchant, and Farmer and Fine Stock-raiser, Liberty).
There is probably not another family in the United States whose representatives have played a more important and honorable part in
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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.
the history of the country than have those of the Calhoun family. With at least the name of one member of this distinguished family every civilized country has been made familiar, a name that stands second to none for ability and statesmanship, and patriotism and high personal honor in this or any other land. Whatever may now be the popular judgment upon the States Rights doctrines of John C. Calhoun, all admit that he was one of the greatest men, if not the greatest, and one of the most lofty and patriotic statesman this coun- try ever produced. Others, perhaps, exceeded him in the gloss of eloquence, but as a logician, and for profound ability, he was with- out a superior. The Calhoun family have given other men of distinction to the country. In the annals of the National Legislature appear the names of no less than five distinguished representatives of this family, all either closely or distantly related. In the affairs of several States they have been prominent, also holding honorable positions of public trust, from the gubernatorial chair down, since early colonial times ; and in the professions and in the various departments of science, in the industries and in business life, on the stage and in letters, repre- sentatives of the family have from time to time attained eminent dis- tinction. Looking, therefore, at the history of this family as it is reflected in the history of the country, one may with all truth and propriety say that if Rome could ever boast her gentes patricic, the Calhoun family may with equal truth and propriety be called one of the patrician families of this country.
The American Calhouns descend from an ancient and honorable family of their name in Ireland. In the history of that country the name is frequently made mention of with credit and distinction. About the beginning of the second quarter of the last century three brothers of the name emigrated to America, all men of character and culture. Their first location in this country was in Pennsylvania. One of these brothers, Patrick Calhoun, became the father of Hon. John C. Calhoun ; another (an older brother) became the father of Hon. John Ewing Calhoun, who preceded his cousin, Hon. John C., in the United States Senate from South Carolina ; and from the third brother, descended the subject of the present sketch. Samuel Calhoun was the sonof - - Calhoun, and from Samuel came Thomas Calhoun, the father of Col. Alexander J. Calhoun.
From Pennsylvania the three Calhoun brothers emigrated within some years of each other to South Carolina, Patrick Calhoun, how- ever, stopping for a time in what is now West Virginia, where he in- tended to make his permanent home. But after Braddock's defeat the Indians became so emboldened that he was compelled to move on further South, and finally located permanently on the borders of the Cherokee territory in South Carolina, near where his brothers had previously settled. From South Carolina branches of the three fam- ilies spread out into other States, including North Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana, Missouri and nearly all the Western and Southern States; and one branch settled in Massachu- setts, of which Hon. William B. Calhoun, a distinguished member of
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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.
Congress from the Springfield district, for about ten years prior to 1843, and afterwards an elector on the Clay and Frelinghuysen Presi- dendial ticket, was a representative of the branch of the family of which Col. Alexander Calhoun belongs. An interesting and well writ- ten account is given in a sketch of his life published in the United States Biographical Dictionary (Missouri Volume ), in 1878, which we here reproduce, together with the body of the sketch : -
Alexander J. Calhoun was born in Wilson county, Tenn., Novem- ber 10, 1814, and is a descendant of one of the old families of the Carolinas, and the son of a deeply revered and eminently pious gen- tleman. The first of the name emigrated from Ireland to America early in the history of the colonial settlement, and settled in South Carolina, where he reared a family. One of his sons, Samuel, was the grandfather of our subject. He was born in that State about 1740, in manhood was a soldier in the Revolution ; after the war he moved to North Carolina, thence to Tennessee in 1798, and settled in Wilson county, near the Big Springs, in 1801, where he died in 1833. His wife was Nancy Neely ; she was born in Pennsylvania in 1755, was of Scotch descent, and died in Tennessee in 1825. They had the following children : Hannah, married Hugh Roane ; John, Polly, married Flavel Garrison ; Thomas, Jane, married John Provine ; Nancy, married Montgomery McCorkle ; Samuel and James. Thomas Calhoun, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in North Carolina, May 31, 1782. He was educated in that State, and moved with his parents to Wilson county, Tenn. He prepared himself for the ministry in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, of which re- ligious body he was one of the first members and was intimately con- nected with its founding and organization, in 1810, under Revs. Finis Ewing, Samuel King and Samuel McAdow. He was ordained and preached for that church full half a century. In 1808, he was mar- ried to Miss Mary Robertson Johnston, who was born in 1787, in North Carolina. Her father, Alexander Johnson, was born in the same State about 1760, was of Welsh descent, and died in 1800. Her mother, whose maiden name was Nellie Robertson, was born in Guil- ford county, N. C., about 1766, and died in 1839. The children of Alexander and Nellie Johnson were : John, Mary R., married Thomas Calhoun ; Robertson, William, Daniel, and Jane married Col. Ga- briel Barton. There were born to Thomas Calhoun and his wife, Mary (Robertson) Calhoun, the following children: Ewing F., Nancy E., who married Blythe McMurray, and, after his death, John Foster, and died in Mississippi, in 1844; Alexander J., Persis B., Jane died in youth ; Thomas P., Samuel L. and Mary R. died in infancy. Alex- ander J. Calhoun, their second son, was raised and educated in his native county. In 1837 he moved to. Columbus, Lowndes county, Miss., where he engaged in merchandising. In 1845 he moved to Clay county, Mo., where he farmed and taught school until 1853, when he was elected circuit clerk and held the position until 1865. He then returned to the farm and remained until 1874, when he was elected to
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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.
his former clerkship in Clay county, which position he now holds. Col. Calhoun received his title in 1840, by commission from the Governor of Mississippi as colonel of the State militia. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, in which order he has been master, high priest and district deputy grand master. The Colonel is also a member of the Pa- trons of Husbandry and of the Good Templars. He is a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. In politics he was a Henry Clay Whig, and since the death of that party has been acting with the Democracy. Col. Calhoun's first wife was a Miss Susan E. Huddle- ston, who was born in Washington, Ala., in 1819, and died in Clay county, Mo., in 1874. Her father, John Huddleston, was born in Georgia about 1793, of Scotch-Irish parents, and died at Pass Chris- tian, Miss., in 1863. His second wife was Miss Bettie Alder, of Clay county, Mo , a native of Virginia, born in 1841. Her father, David P. Alder, was born in Virginia, September 11, 1803, but moved to Clay county, Mo., in 1850, and died there June 3, 1857. He had been county surveyor of Rockingham county, Va., and was deputy surveyor of Clay county after moving west. He was of English de- scent. He married Lydia A. Wall, of Kentucky, who was born in 1818, and died in Clay county in 1864. Their children were : Gard- ner, Bettie, married A. J. Calhoun ; Maria, married James Grooms ; Lurena, married Moses McCoy and after his death, W. P. Lucas ; Madison, Lydia, married David Thorp ; Worthington, now dead, and John died in 1874. Col. Calhoun had no children by his first wife. By his second wife he has one child, a son named Thomas Alexander, born May 4, 1876. His wife is a member of the Baptist Church.
JUDGE JOHN CHRISMAN
(Formerly of Liberty, now of Kansas City).
Judge Chrisman is a native of Kentucky, born in Fayette county, October 3, 1825. His parents were Joseph and Eleanor H. (Soper ) Chrisman, his father originally of Virginia, but his mother a native of Kentucky. The Sopers were one of the pioneer families of Ken- tucky. They came there about the time, or soon after, the migration of Daniel Boone into the land of the Dark and Bloody Ground, and subsequently became quite prominent, in the affairs of the State. Joseph Chrisman went out from Virginia to Kentucky when a young man, and was married to Miss Soper in Jessamine county. In 1851 he removed to Missouri with his family and located in Clay county, where he followed farming until his death, in 1875. He lived to the advanced age of 75 years. Mr. Chrisman, Sr., was quite successful as a farmer, and accumulated a comfortable property. Judge John Chrisman, the subject of this sketch, was reared in Fayette county, Kentucky, and his father being a man who appreciated mental cul- ture, and being in good circumstances, gave him excellent educational advantages. After taking a course in the common and intermediate schools, he attended Transylvania University. Subsequently he taught school in Kentucky for a few years and then came to Missouri,
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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.
accompanying his parents to this State in 1851. For some years after locating in Clay county he followed farming, but in 1864 removed to Liberty from his farm and began the study of law. In due time Judge Chrisman was admitted to the bar, and subsequently practiced his profession at Liberty for fifteen or twenty years. His business was mainly confined to office practice, and as a lawyer he was quite successful. Judge Chrisman made considerable money in his pro- fession, and in 1884 removed to Kansas City in order to use his means to better advantage and to have a large and more lucrative field for the practice. In 1865 he was appointed a judge of the county. court, and held the office one term. Subsequently he held other positions of public trust. In March, 1859, he was married to Miss Maria F. Petty, a daughter of William Petty, formerly of Virginia. She sur- vived her marriage some sixteen years, dying July 15, 1875. Mrs. Chrisman left two children : William, now of Liberty, and Katie, who is just completing her education at Lexington, Missouri. Besides doing a general practice at Kansas City, Judge Chrisman is engaged in the real estate business. He is a man of good business qualifica- tions and high standing. Being full of energy, he is rapidly estab- lishing himself as one of the active, useful citizens of Kansas City.
JAMES G. CLARK, LL.D.
(Professor of Mathematics and French, William Jewell College, Liberty).
Dr. Clark is a native of Virginia. He was born at Millwood, in Clarke county, of that State, June 23, 1837. His father was James H. Clark. His mother's maiden name was Jane A. Gregory. She was originally from North Carolina. The father was a merchant by occu- pation, and a successful business man. However, he was broken up in fortune by the disasters incident to the Civil War. He died in Virginia in 1876. His wife, a lady of many estimable qualities of mind and heart, preceded him to the grave in 1859. Dr. Clark was reared in his native county, and spent his early youth principally at the schools of Millwood. At the age of 17 he matriculated at the State University of Virginia. Dr. Clark continued at the university until he had graduated in most of the departments of schools ; there- upon he was elected assistant professor of mathematics in that insti- tution, discharging the duties of the position with ability and satisfaction to all concerned for a period of one year preceding 1858. At the expiration of that term he was appointed instructor in the Alexandria Boarding School. Two years later he was elected to the chair of mathematics in Columbia College, Washington, D. C. Dr. Clark remained at the head of the mathematical department until the outbreak of the Civil War. He then resigned his position and enlisted in the Confederate army, becoming a member of the subsequently noted Rock Bridge Artillery, attached to Stonewall Jackson's brigade. During the winter of 1862-63 he was transferred to an engineer corps, but the following summer was made captain of artillery on ordnance duty in Cheatham's division of the Army of Tennessee. During the
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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.
remainder of the war, or until the surrender of his command at Greensborough, N. C., in 1865, he continued in this service which began at the great battle of Lookout Mountain. After the war Dr. Clark was rechosen professor of mathematics at Columbia College. He subsequently continued to occupy that position for about six years, after which he again resigned, this time to engage in teaching a private school. On quitting Columbia College he taught at Wash- ington City for a time and then at Richmond, Va. Early in 1873 he was elected professor of mathematics at William Jewell College, in Liberty, Mo., and, deciding to accept the position, he came at once to this place to assume the duties of the chair of mathematics to which he had been chosen. Ever since that time Dr. Clark has been identi- fied with this institution, and throughout his entire connection with it he has been at the head of the mathematical department. In 1873 the duties of professor of the French language were also assigned to him, which he has ever since discharged. In view of what has already been said it is hardly necessary to remark that he is a scholar of superior and varied attainments. Having made teaching a profession, he has followed it with that industry and zeal which could hardly have resulted otherwise than they have in making him a teacher of ability, success and enviable standing. For many years he has made a special study of mathematics, and he has attained to a position of more than ordinary prominence among educators in that department of learning. Indeed, he has written a very able and valuable work on the " Infinit- esimal Calculus." In 1880 Dr. Clark was honored with the degree of Doctor of Laws, by the Baylor University of Texas. In 1883, 10 years from the time he first became a member of the faculty of Will- iam Jewell College, he was elected chairman of the faculty, and now holds that position. Dr. Clark has long been a member of the Baptist Church, and has been a deacon in that denomination since 1875. In 1865 he was married to Miss Jennie Hume, a daughter of Rev. Thomas Hume, of Virginia. She survived her marriage, however, only a short time. To his present wife he was married June 30, 1868. She was Miss Kate M. Morfit, a daughter of Henry M. Morfit (deceased ), late of Baltimore, Md. He was a leading attorney of that city, and a lawyer of wide and enviable reputation. Mrs. Clark was principally educated at Washington City. She is a lady of culture and refinement. Mrs. C. is a member of the Episcopal Church.
WILLIAM CLARK.
(Farmer and Stock Dealer, Post-office, Liberty).
Mr. Clark is a native of Kentucky, born in Nicholas county, July 11, 1847. His father was John L. Clark and his mother's maiden name, Mary Norton, both of that county. The family removed to Missouri in 1858, and located in Clay county, where the father bought a farm and engaged in farming, which he followed until his death, April 22, 1880. He possessed many sterling qualities. As a neighbor he was kind and considerate, and liberal and hospitable ; as a husband
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