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 39

Author:
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: St. Louis : National Historical Co.
Number of Pages: 1156

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 39
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 39

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

CLINTON TILLERY

(Collector of Clay County, Liberty).

That success in life and advancement in public affairs are not lim- ited to those whose early advantages have been the best and whose opportunities would therefore seem to be the most favorable, is daily illustrated by the lives of the men who have come to the front as representative citizens of their respective communities. Beyond all question personal worth is the controlling influence that shapes every man's future character, energy, ability and the qualities that win suc- cess in life. Unless one have these he may have had all the early advantages to be desired and in his career may be favored with abun- dant means and the help of influential friends, but still he can not com- pete with another who has the characteristics mentioned, however unfavorable the latter's early advantages may have been.

In presenting a sketch of the subject whose names stands at the head of the preceding paragraph, we have the example of a man who has risen to enviable prominence in the community where he was reared, almost solely by his own exertions and personal worth. He was born in Clinton county, June 19, 1849, and was left an orphan by the death of his father when quite young. His father, Joel D. Tillery, who came to this State from Kentucky when a young man, in 1842, was married to Miss Letitia Gilliam, formerly of Alexandria,

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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.

Va. They made their home in Clinton county, this State, where they resided until early in 1851, when the father joined the general move- ment to California in quest of gold. He never lived to return, but died on the Pacific coast.

The mother, after her husband started to California, came to Lib- erty. Clinton was two years old when his father left for California. Reared in Liberty, his youth was spent at school and at work in a woolen factory, principally. By attending the common and high schools he succeeded in getting a good common English education, which was supplemented by instruction at William Jewell College for one term.

In 1867 he obtained a situation as clerk in a grocery store, and he continued clerking for about four years. During this time, by econ- omy he was enabled to accumulate a nucleus of means with which to begin in business for himself, which he accordingly did, opening a grocery store at this place. He conducted his grocery business with success for about five years, when he sold out to advantage and as- sumed the duties of county treasurer, to which he was elected. Meanwhile, however, in 1874, he was elected mayor of Liberty, he being at the time only 25 years of age, and the youngest mayor who ever held the office. Elected treasurer in 1876, as stated above, he subsequently held the office for three terms, by consecutive re- elections, and was then elected county collector in 1882 and still holds that position.

Mr. Tillery has bought a handsome farm adjoining Liberty and is engaging quite extensively in breeding, raising and dealing in fine thoroughbred short horn cattle. It is his purpose to retire from his office at the close of his present term and devote his entire time and attention to his farming and stock interests. He is a man of energy and progressive ideas, and will doubtless soon take a prominent posi- tion among the leading agriculturists of the county.

October 9, 1874, Mr. Tillery was married to Miss Flora H., a daugh- ter of Judge William H. Lane of this county. They have five chil- dren : Augustus, Trigg T., Jennie, Harry and Mary. He and wife are members of the Christian Church, and he is a prominent member of the I. O. O. F.

JAMES R. TIMBERLAKE,

(Stock-dealer, Ex-Sheriff of Clay county and Proprietor of Livery Stable, Residence, Liberty).

Mr. Timberlake, one of the most efficient sheriff's this county ever had and a man who has done much for the promotion of law and order in this community, and now serving as Deputy United States Mar- shall, is a native Missourian, born in Platte county, March 22, 1846. His father, John Timberlake, a Kentuckian by birth, born in 1809, was married in that State to Patsy Noland, some time after which, in 1830, he came to Missouri, locating in the Platte Purchase, in what is now Platte county, where he bought land and improved a

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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.

farm. He remained here until 1864, when, owing to the unsettled condition of affairs here on account of war troubles, he went to Illinois for a short time. Returning soon after to Platte county, he made it his home until purchasing a place in Clay county, upon which he re- sided from 1866 to 1880. At that date he took up his location in Jackson county, near Independence, where he at present is situated. His first wife died in Platte county. The life of James R. has been a very active one. He remained at the home farm until 1864, and when his father went to Illinois the son entered the Confederate army in 1864, in Col. Slayback's cavalry regiment. He became second lieutenant of Co. B, Shelby's brigade, and as such participated in a number of engagements. After the close of the war he accom- panied Shelby and Price to Mexico (leaving Texas in April, 1865), and continued in that country until December, 1865, traveling en- tirely through the heart of Old Mexico to California, which was reached the same month. He remained in that State until the fol- lowing summer and then returned to his home in Missouri, though choosing his residence in Clay county. For two or three years after this he was peacefully occupied in the pursuits of farming and stock- raising. In the meantime, in 1872, he made a trip to Texas and brought back a herd of cattle which he disposed of to good advantage in Kansas. In 1876 Mr. Timberlake was appointed constable of Liberty township and served for two years, and so well were the duties of that position discharged that, in 1878, when it became necessary to select someone to fill the office of sheriff of the county, no more suitable man could have been chosen for that position. He was elected and at the expiration of his term of service was honored with a re-election. His services while discharging his official duties were marked with a fear- lessness and conscientiousness which characterized him a typical sher- iff, and in proforming his work he met with the hearty approbation of all officers of the court and the people generally. After his re- tirement from office, Mr. Timberlake went to New Mexico and in company with his brother bought two ranches, upon which they have since been actively and successfully engaged in the stock business. In 1883 he was appointed Deputy U. S. Marshal for the Western Dis- trict of Missouri, a position which he still holds. He is now inter- ested in a livery stable and has one of the largest establishments of this kind in Missouri - a stable which would be a credit to any city of larger size. November 25, 1874, Mr. T. was married at Liberty to Miss Katie, daughther of Grafton Thomason, deceased, one of the pioneers of Clay county. She was born at Liberty, but received her education in Platte. Mr. Timberlake is a member of Liberty Lodge No. 43, I. O. O. F. His wife is connected with the Christian Church.

JACOB A. TRUMBO

(Farmer, Post-office, Liberty).

Mr. Trumbo, if called upon, could doubtless furnish valuable infor- mation in regard to the facts of the controversy recently going in

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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.

the papers as to the disposition made of the treasure of the Confed- erate Government after the evacuation of Richmond. He was one of Mr. Davis' guard. He was also for a time on the body-guard of Gen. Breckinridge. As a matter of fact he was one of the guard that secreted the gold of the treasury after the collapse of the Confederate Government, but never knew what became of this golden treasure. The notes from which this sketch is written barely refer to the facts here stated, so that no other particulars can be given. But he is most probably in possession of most valuable information in regard to this point on which historians widely differ. Mr. Trumbo, in the early part of his services in the Confederate army, was under Gen. John S. Williams, the veteran commander who fought with such distinction at Cerre Gordo, in the Mexican War, that he was ever afterwards called Cerre Gordo Williams, as Scipio was called Scipio Africanus, for his distinguished exploits in Africa during the Punic Wars. Mr. Trumbo came to Missouri in 1877, and has been a resident of this county ever since, engaged in farming. He has a good place of 250 acres in the vicinity of Liberty. His farm, unfortunately, was in the course taken by the memorable cyclone of the 13th of May, 1883. Although he and family escaped without the loss of life, or the killing of any stock, his buildings were literally scattered to the four winds of the earth. Fragments of his barns and other buildings were carried a mile or a mile and a half away. Since then he has rebuilt and repaired what could be repaired, and now has his farm in good condition again. He was born in Bath county, Ky., October 24, 1845, and was reared in that county. His parents were Adam A. and Hannah Trumbo, both of early and respected Kentucky families. Mr. Trumbo was married December 23d, 1869, in Bath county Ky., to Miss Mary E. Bradshaw. She survived until March 23, 1883, leaving him four children at her death: Adam A., Sallie A., James F. and Maggie L. To his present wife Mr. Trumbo was married August 11, 1884. She was a Miss Fannie Jacobs, a daughter of Henry Jacobs, of Franklin county, Ky. Mrs. Trumbo, his present wife, is a member of the Christian Church. His first wife was a member of the M. E. Church.

WILLIAM W. WILLMOTT

(Dealer in Lumber, Doors, Sash, Lime; Etc., Etc., Liberty).

The Willmott family is an old and prominent one, both in this coun- try and in England. Representatives of different branches of the. family have risen to positions of distinction in both countries. There are different orthographies of the name, according to whether the l and t or both are double' or single in the spelling. John Eardley Wilmot was chief justice of the Court of Common Pleas of England during the first half of the present century; and his son of the same name at- tained to great eminence as a chancery lawyer. They were from Derby, England, where the original stock of the family was located. Judge David Wilmot, of Pennsylvania, a United States Senator from that State, was a distinguished representative of the family in this

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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.

country. He was the author of the famous Wilmot " Proviso," that was an exciting subject of discussion throughout the whole coun- try during the slavery agitation. Branches of the family in this country settled both in Pennsylvania and Virginia. Col. Robert Will- mott, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a gallant officer under Washington in the War for Independence. He subse- quently removed to Kentucky and became a prominent citizen of that State. He was a leading member of the first constitutional conven- tion of Kentucky, and served with marked ability for a number of years in the State Legislature. His son, John F. Willmott, the father of the subject of this sketch, became a wealthy planter of Bourbon county, Ky. He married a Miss Harriet Skillman, formerly of Virginia, and reared a large family of children. Among these William W., the sub- ject of this sketch, was the third child, and was born October 14, 1829. He was reared on his father's farm in that county, and in young manhood, March 2, 1858, was married to Miss Mary J. Breck- inridge, a daughter of Perry Breckinridge, who was a cousin to one of the most brilliant men this country ever produced, Hon. John C. Breckinridge. Mr. Willmott, the subject of this sketch, removed to Missouri in 1872 and engaged in the manufacturing business at St. Louis. Three years later he removed to Baton Rouge, La., where he engaged in cotton planting. After an experince there of four years he came to Plattsburg, Mo., in the winter of 1879, and the following spring located at Liberty, where he bought a lumber yard already established at this place, which, in partnership with his son, W. Canby Willmott, he has ever since conducted. They have a large stock of lumber and other building materials, and are doing an excellent busi- ness. Mr. Willmott and wife are members of the Christian Church, as is also their son, W. Canby, the only child they ever reared.

GEORGE W. WYMORE

(Farmer and Stock-dealer, Post-office, Liberty).

Mr. Wymore's parents, Samuel and Eliza (Downing) Wymore, came to Liberty from Fayette county, Ky., in 1843. George W. was then a lad about 14 years of age, having been born January 14, 1829. His father was for many years in the meat market business at Liberty, and dealing in cattle, hogs, etc., to some extent. George W. was brought up to this business, and became a thorough judge of stock. When he reached his majority he, too, engaged in the meat market business, which he followed for several years. He then established a livery stable, afterwards known as the Thompson House stables, which he built and stocked. He was in the livery business for about 20 years, and during all this time made a specialty in dealing in horses and mules, in which he had good success. Mr. Wymore is accounted one of the best judges of this class of stock in the county. He takes a special pride in handling horses and mules, and can get up a saddle or harness animal in better shape and in less time than perhaps any other man in the county. Mr. Wymore also has a neat farm two and

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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.

a half miles south of Liberty, a place of over 200 acres. December 6, 1848, he was married to Miss Sarah Francis, a daughter of Walker J. Turner, formerly from Kentucky. They have 11 children : John H., Lila, wife of John Donaldson ; Charles W., Andrew P., Mamie, wife of Adrean Arnold ; Walter, now in New Mexico; Oscar, Bettie, Thomas McC., " Colonel Doniphan," and Mattie P. Mrs. Wymore is a member of the Christian Church.

JOHN H. WYMORE

(Ex-Town Councilman, and Proprietor of Wymore's Meat Market, Liberty).

Mr. Wymore is a son of George W. Wymore, whose sketch pre- cedes this, and is engaged in the same business in which his father was engaged for a number of years, and that his grandfather began at Liberty over 40 years ago -the meat market business. Mr. Wy- more, Jr., the subject of this sketch, is a very energetic young man, and understands his business thoroughly. He commenced for himself several years ago, and has been quite successful. Probably no young man in the county is a better judge of beef cattle and other fatted stock than he. He makes his own purchases and does his own butch- ering, or has it done under his immediate direction, so that he is not only enabled to carry on his business with a thorough understand- ing of its details, but to judge correctly of the character and quality of his meat sold at his market. Knowing that a good name in busi- ness is of more value than even capital itself, he is very careful to pre- serve the reputation of his market and suffers no meat to go out under a false recommendation. This is one of the main secrets of his suc- cess. November 13, 1851, he was born at Liberty. His education was received at the common schools, the Liberty High School and William Jewell College. October 10, 1876, he was married to Miss Ida M. Pratt, a daughter of M. E. Pratt, formerly of Kentucky. They have four children : George, Frank, Garthum and Mabel.

MARTIN WYMORE

(Dealer in Groceries, Queensware, Glassware, Etc., Liberty).

A historical outline has already been given elsewhere in this volume in a biographical sketch of one of the other representatives of this family. One of the pioneer families of Clay county, its members have always occupied an enviable position here among the respected and worthy citizens of the county. Nor is the subject of the present sketch an exception to this rule. A man of energy and unquestioned personal worth, he is esteemed by all as one of the representative business men of Liberty. Mr. Wymore is a son of Samuel S. Wy- more already referred to. He was born at Lexington, in Fayette county, Ky., December 22, 1838. His father being engaged in pork packing and butchering, in connection with farming and stock raising, young Wymore was brought up to these occupations. In 1858 he engaged in the butcher business, and kept a meat market at Liberty

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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.

on his own account, and afterwards continued the business for over 20 years. Mr. Wymore was quite successful and accumulated a substan- tial nucleus of means. In 1879 he retired from the meat market busi- ness and butchering and established a grocery store at Liberty. His success in this has also been satisfactory. He has one of the leading houses in this line in this county, and does an annual business of about $35,000. In the spring of 1860 he was married to Miss Isabella, daughter of James Bratton (deceased), late of this county. Mrs. Wymore was educated at the high school of Missouri City. They have 10 children, six of whom are living : Gertrude, Jennie, Maggie, Bennie, Ernest and Annie. Martin and James died in infancy ; Lela and Mary both died the present year (1884), Lela in August and Mary in September, the former at the age of 18, and the younger at the age of 15. Mr. and Mrs. Wymore are members of the Christian Church.

PETER YOUNG

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Liberty).

Mr. Young is one of the substantial citizens in a property point of view as well as otherwise, of Clay county, and is unqualifiedly a self- made man. Every dollar he is worth he has made by his own hard work, frugality and good business sense. He was born in Belgium, though of French parentage, October 30, 1838. His father, John Young and mother, whose maiden name was Catharine Kolar, were both natives of the Gaulic Land of Vines, but went to Belgium early in life, where they were married. From the latter country they emi- grated to the United States in 1849, and settled in Wisconsin, where they made their permanent home. The father died there (Ozouka county ) in 1871. Peter grew up in that county and went thence to southwestern Illinois, opposite St. Louis, where he made his home for some 25 years. There he was largely engaged in vegetable farm- ing and hauled thousands of loads of produce into the Mound City. Commencing for himself when a boy as a day laborer, he finally ac- cumulated a comfortable property. In December, 1882, he removed to Clay county and bought the farm where he now resides, an excel- lent place of 200 acres, a mile and a half from Liberty. He also had 50 acres in another tract near by, and a farm in Jefferson county of 160 acres. January 27, 1866, he was married in Madison county, Ill., to Miss Annie, a daughter of Christian Smith, of Montgomery county, that State, but formerly of Darmstadt, Germany. They have eight children : Lizzie, John, Peter, Annie, Mar, Dora, William and Clara.

CHAPTER XIV.

FISHING RIVER TOWNSHIP.

Position and Description - Early History, First Settlers, etc. - Voters at First Elec tion in Township - Country Churches - Missouri City - Its Origin, Founder and Subsequent Career - Known formerly as Richfield - Murder of Wiley Herndon - Killing of two men named Titus by G. S. Elgin - Churches and Lodges in Missouri City - History of Excelsior Springs- When Surveyed and Started - Buildings Erected -Its Prosperity during 1881 - Incorporation - The Springs - The Medi- cinal and Healing Properties which They Possess - Churches at Excelsior Springs- G. A. R. Lodge - Prathersville - Location, etc. - Fishing River Baptist Church - Biographical.

POSITION AND DESCRIPTION.

- Comprising the entire southeastern portion of Clay, Fishing River township is one of the most important municipal townships in the county. There are within its boundaries about 72 square miles, em- bracing one entire congressional township (52-30) and fractional parts of three others. Its legal boundary line begins on the county line be- tween Ray and Clay, at the northest corner of section 1-52-30, and runs thence south to the Missouri river ; thence up the river to the section line dividing sections 2 and 3, in township 50-31 ; thence due north to the northwest corner of section 14-52-31; thence east two miles, to the range line between ranges 30 and 31; thence north two miles to the township line between townships 52 and 53; thence east along the township line to the beginning.

- The entire township, except the bottom lands, is rolling and broken. Along the Missouri river the alluvial lands comprise, in the extreme southeastern and southwestern parts of the township, a considerable extent of country. Near Missouri City the bluffs come up to the river and leave scant room between it and their base for the track of the Wabash Railroad. For miles up the river these bluffs, which are of the character known as mural, present their huge battlements against the encroachments of the river, protecting the country and presenting a picturesque and imposing appearance.

The nothern portion of the township is rolling and generally ele- vated. Many sections are rocky and the soil sterile and unimproved. Some of the bottom lands along Fishing river below Prathersville are as yet unreclaimed, being very low and even swampy, Doubtless the

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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.

cutting away of the heavy timbers with which they are covered would do much towards their redemption. The western portion of the town- ship contains some splendid farms in a most advanced state of im- provement and cultivation. (

Fishing river, from which the township takes its name, and its branches drain the northern portion of the township; Rush creek the southwestern, and Cooley's Lake, a nearly semi-circular body of water, nearly three miles in length, is in the southeastern. The latter is famous as a resort for hunters and fishers, and though abounding in fish at all seasons, and in all kinds of water-fowl in the spring and fall, there have been times within the memory of many when it went dry.

EARLY HISTORY.

Fishing River was one of the first permanently settled townships in Clay county. In the fall of 1820, David McElwee and his good wife, Mary, came with their family from Warren county, Tenn., to section 34-52-30, about a mile north of the head of Cooley's Lake. Patrick Laney, an Irishman by birth, but a Tennesseean by adoption, and his wife Jane, came with McElwee and settled half a mile northwest of the latter. Mrs. Margaret Howdeshell, a daughter of McElwee, who came with her father to Missouri, and yet lives, with a memory of early days unimpaired, states that when her father came to his settle- ment the nearest settlers to him were the Gilmores, Smith and Hill, on Rush creek, mentioned in the sketch of Liberty township.

In the winter of 1820-21, Thos. Officer settled one mile east of McElwee. Mr. Officer and James and Alexander Woolard located north of Fishing river, but in a year or two moved back to Kentucky. David and Wm. Lisles, brothers and unmarried, came with the Wool- ards, lived with them, and left the country with them. In the spring of 1821, Elisha and John Camron came to section 31-52-30, three miles north or northeast of where Missouri City now stands. John Camron was a widower, and his death, which occurred in the summer of 1821, is believed to have been the first that ever occurred in the county, of which an American settler was the subject. The body was buried on Judge Elisha Camron's farm.

Also, in the spring of 1821, two men named Spicer and Vickery settled on section 23-52-30, two miles or more southeast of Prathers- ville. Wm. and Thos. Slaughter settled in the forks of Fishing river nor far from Mt. Pleasant Church, in the spring of 1822. Ebenezer Price and Napoleon Price settled in the vicinity of Prathersville about

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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.

the same time. Sam Oliver, who settled on section 26, was another early settler who came in 1821, but didn't like the country and re- turned to Kentucky in a year or two.

In the fall of 1821, after the fight with the Indians at David Mc- Elwee's, narrated elsewhere (see chapter I), the settlers in the coun- try put up block houses into which they could retreat and " fort up," on the approach of danger. One of these " forts " or block houses stood on Elisha Camron's land ; another was at the Gilmores', on Rush creek, near Liberty ; and another was at old Martin Palmer's, on section 1-51-30, half amilefrom Cooley's Lake, and just under the bluff, on the Camden road. Happily there was never any occasion for the use or occupation of these places of refuge.

The first wedding in Clay county occurred in the spring of 1821, under a sugar tree, a quarter of a mile east of Palmer's fort. The contracting parties were Cornelius Gilliam and Mary Crawford, and it is said that old Col. Martin Palmer, the " Ring-tailed Painter," performed the ceremony. Mary Crawford was an orphan, who was reared by Mrs. Mary Poteet, a sister of Elijah Smith, who lived on Rush creek. " Neil" Gilliam was afterwards sheriff of this county, State Senator, etc., and a gallant officer in the Florida War.

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Author: Publication date: 1885 Publisher: St. Louis : National Historical Co. Number of Pages: 1156

Author:
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: St. Louis : National Historical Co.
Number of Pages: 1156