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 45

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 45
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 45


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).


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COUNTRY CHURCHES.


First Baptist Church of Platte. - This is probably the oldest church located in the limits of Clay county, and certainly the first one of Platte township, having been organized at Duncan's school-house, on Saturday, June 23, 1827. It is located on the northeast quarter of section 36, in township 53 north, range 38 west. Here the church building, originally constructed of logs, stood, but in 1876 a frame building was erected, costing $1,000. The first members were Will- iam Vance, Barbara Vance, Richard Jesse, Frances Jesse, Juliet C. Jesse, John Thatcher, Woodford F. Jesse, William Corum, Bersheba


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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.


Corum, Abijah Brooks, John Lloyd, Nancy Lloyd, Eleanor Corum and Polly Nance. Abijah Brooks was the first church clerk, being succeeded by Woodford Jesse. The church now has 15 members, and its clerk is Edward P. Moore. Revs. D. W. Riley, William Thorp, Eppa Tillery, Thomas Turner, Darius Bainbridge, William Warren, T. W. Todd and John E. Goodson have been the pastors in charge.


Mount Olive Christian Church. - This church is located on the northwest quarter and southwest quarter of section 8, township 52, range 32, where stands an excellent frame building, erected in 1875, and costing about $2,000. In connection with it is a handsomely laid out cemetery. Twenty-six persons comprised the original member- ship, as follows : Louis Grimes and Jacob R. Wilson, who were made elders ; Samuel Hunt, William Christa, B. T. Gordon, G. C. Clardy, chosen as deacons; Bennett Smith, who was made clerk; Ellen Christa, Ruth Grimes, Mattie Wilson, Isaac P. Wilson, Isabella Wilson, Joel E. Grimes, Sallie Grimes, Sallie Hunt, Ellen Hunt, Nancy E. Smith, Sarah M. Crow, Mattie H. Crow, Lavena Blackstone, Elizabeth Dickerson, Giles C. Clark, Mattie Adams, Jeff T. Thomp- son, Lizzie Grimes, Ruth B. Grimes. The pastors who have filled the pulpit here are W. C. Rogers, Bayard Waller, A. B. Jones, H. B. Clay, S. R. Hand and Rev. Mr. Watson. The present membership is about 100. There are 25 scholars in the Sabbath-school, the super- intendent being Mr. Gusten.


SMITHVILLE.


The town of Smithville stands on section 23, township 53, range 33, or one mile from the Platte county line and about five miles from Clin- ton county. It is a small village, but a trading point of already great advantage to the people of the surrounding country, and it promises now, with a railroad in quite reasonable prospect, to become at no very distant date a town of no small importance and conse- quence.


The first settler on the present site of Smithville was Humphrey Smith, who came in the spring of 1822, and two years later, or in 1824, built a mill on the fork of Platte river, which still bears his name. He was born in New Jersey in 1774, lived in Pennsylvania from 1784 to 1800, in Erie county, N. Y., from 1800 to 1816, and then removed to Howard county, Mo., where he resided three years and a half ; then he removed to what is now Carroll county -then Chariton -


22


-


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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.


where he remained until 1822, when he came to Clay. He was uni- versally known as " Yankee " Smith.


With something of Yankee enterprise and shrewdness Smith located where he did and built his mill in order to catch the patronage of the government Indian agencies in the Platte country, and also the custom of the settlers who, he rightly conjectured, would push out in con- siderable numbers to the extreme frontier. The mill at first was but a " corn-cracker," but in a few years, when wheat was first raised in the country, Smith added a bolting apparatus, and it is said that this was the first flouring mill in Clay county. It stood near the site of the present mill, and Smith's dwelling-house, a log cabin, was built on the south side of Main street where the Liberty road turns south, and east of the road. The mill was operated by Smith and his sons for thirty consecutive years, and then purchased by Col. Lewis Wood. It was washed away by a flood in 1853.1


" Yankee " Smith was all his life an avowed Abolitionist. He de- claimed against what he considered the sin of human slavery at all times and under all circumstances. For his principles he was mobbed in Howard county and driven away. His family fled to what is now Carroll, and he joined them as soon as it was safe to do so. But no sort of persecution, blows, mobbings, threats, denunciation, or rail- lery moved him or deterred him from speaking his mind. Frequently some bully would approach him and call out: " Smith, are you an Abolitionist?" " I am," was always the reply. The next instant he would be knocked down ; but he would rise and calmly say : " O, that's no argument. You are stronger than I, but that don't prove you are right." Finally his soft answers turned away the wrath of those opposed to him, and he was allowed to hold and express his opinions in peace.


Smith always declared that slavery would be abolished in the United States, but he did not live until his eyes had seen " the glory." In June, 1857, he died of small-pox. It has always been supposed that he caught the disease from an infected Abolition paper, called the Herald of Freedom, published at Lawrence, Kas., and to which his son, Calvin, was a subscriber. The postmaster, James Brasfield, who handed Smith the paper, took varioloid, and Smith himself had small- pox in a violent and fatal form. At first his disease was not known,


1 The first mention of Smith's mill in the county records appears in the proceedings of the county court in the summer of 1826, in connection with the reviewing of a road from Liberty thereto.


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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.


and persons who called to see him were infected, and spread the con- tagion through the neighborhood. Many died therefrom, and the incident was one long and sadly remembered. 1


Humphrey Smith had a store at his mill before 1828, and soon after a little village sprang up. Calvin Smith, a son of Humphrey, man- aged the store at first. Next to him were Henry Owens and John Lerty, both of whom were small merchants here before 1840. James Walker was another early merchant. Dr. Alex. M. Robinson, afterward a prominent Democratic politician of Platte, Dr. J. B. Snaile and Dr. S. S. Ligon were the first physicians in the community.


Old settlers assert that as early as 1845 Smithville was a place of as much importance as at present, with nearly the same number of houses, and a greal deal more whisky ! The failure of the Parkville Railroad prevented the full development of the place, and entailed considerable loss on many of the citizens who were subscribers to the stock. Although always without railroad facilities the town has ever had a good trade. At present - April, 1885 - there is good prospect for securing to the town the St. Joseph and Southeastern Railroad within a year.


Smithville has been several times incorporated. The first incor- poration was by the county court, August 7, 1867 ; this was amended April 8, 1868, but the trustees appointed never qualified, and July 6,


1 As stated, Humphrey Smith died in June, 1857. He was buried in a small grave- yard in Platte county, four miles northwest of Smithville. The following inscription appears upon his tombstone : -


"IN MEMORY OF HUMPHREY SMITH, BORN IN 1774, DIED JUNE, 1857.


" Like leaves on trees the race of man is found, Now green in youth, now withering on the ground; So generations in their course decay, So perish these when those have passed away.


"This patriot came to Missouri in 1816, from the State of New York; labored to make the territory into a Free State, for which he was mobbed by armed slaveholders, scourged, bruised and dragged at midnight from his house. His ever faithful wife, coming to his assistance, received injuries at the hands of the mob which caused her years of affliction. He was compelled to leave the State. His wife and family fled from Howard county to Carroll county; there joining his family, he moved to Clay county, where for many years he kept up the struggle against the 'negro thieves or man stealers.' They denounced him as an Abolitionist, because he was in favor of human liberty for all men. His request was, 'Never let the men stealers know where I am buried until my State is free, then write my epitaph.'


" Here lies Humphrey Smith, who was in favor of human rights, universal liberty, equal and exact justice, no union with slaveholders, free States, free people, union of States and one and universal republic."


ยท


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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.


following, the county court appointed Erastus Smith, Jacob Kraus, Otis Guernsey, Theodoric Fitzgerald and Matthew McGregory in their stead. February 4, 1878, there was another incorporation, the terri- tory incorporated being described as " all that portion of the south- west quarter of section 23, township 53, range 33, lying south of Smith's fork of Platte river." October 8, following, there was a reincorporation as "a town," with J. D. DeBerry, J. C. Brasfield, William Clardy, W. H. Rhoads and John Swartz as trustees. The town is now running under this incorporation. The population of Smithville is at present about 250.


CHURCHES.


Church of Christ at Smithville. - There are but few facts men- tioned in connection with the histroy of this church which have been preserved, and some of the most important items of interest can not now be given. The organization of the church was effected October 13, 1843, and though the present membership comprises 151 com- inunicants, the membership in that early day was composed only of Alexander B. Duncan, Preston Akers, Henry Owens, L. J. Wood, Christopher C. Baily, James G. Williams, Sr., Jonathan Owens, James H. Thorp, John Grimes, James Krauss, Margaret Krauss, Helen M. Duncan, Rachel C. Buchanan, Lucinda G. Grimes, Eleanor Breckinridge, Elizabeth Ecton, Juda Strode, Missouri A. Owens and Joseph Shafer. Some of the pastors have been Moses E. Lard, Preston Aker, A. H. F. Payne, William H. Robison, G. B. Waller and John W. Tate, the present pastor. In 1848, at a cost of $1,000, a plain, unostentatious brick church edifice was built. In 1883 a new building was erected at an expenditure of $4,500. This is one of the handsomest brick churches in the county. G. W. Clardy superin- tends the Sabbath-school, which numbers 80 pupils. Mr. J. F. Justus is church clerk.


Smithville Baptist Church. - J. D. DeBerry and wife, Mary A. DeBerry, J. B. Colley and wife, S. P. Herndon, Eliza and Emeline Herndon, Mary J. Parker and Clarissa H. Basley were the constitu- ent members of this church, which was organized in the spring of 1873, and which now includes in its membership 108 persons. Rev. Mr. Livingston was instrumental in its formation. The first pastor was L. D. Lampkin, and he was succeeded by R. H. Jones, W. W. Wilkerson and A. Barton, after whom again came Mr. Jones. In 1882 the frame church building in which they now worship was con- structed at a cost of about $1,700.


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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.


ODD FELLOWS LODGE.


Vigilant Lodge No. 289, I. O. O. F., at Smithville, was organized November 28, 1872. The original members were John H. Marr, S. S. Johnson, F. O. Estes, G. H. Hays and John Swartz. A. B. Craw- ford, L. J. Wood, Erastus Smith and Samuel Venrick were initiated the first night. The present officers of the lodge are R. P. Wood, noble grand ; L. P. Moore, vice grand ; J. R. Shafer, secretary ; John Swartz, treasurer; A. K. Elliott, chaplain; John R. Swartz, conduc- tor. The present membership is 27. John Swartz, who was the first treasurer, is the only one of the charter members now remaining.


GOSNEYVILLE.


Gosneyville, a small hamlet in the northern part of Platte town- ship (on the southeast quarter of section 5, township 53, range 32), has half a dozen houses, two churches, stores, etc. It was never reg- ularly laid out, and has no official history. Many years ago John Gosney established a blacksmith shop here, and for him the village was named. The post-office is called Paradise.


CHURCHES.


Gosneyville M. E. Church South. - This church was organized at the old Corum school-house, near Smithville, in 1843, by Rev. E. M. Marvin and Rev. Amos Tutt, and was the first M. E. Church organ- ized in Platte township. The original members were: Geo. W. Douglas, Jane Douglas, Mahala McGee, James O. McGee, Julia Mc- Gee, Thomas McGee, Samuel J. McGee, Jane McGee, Polly Hulse, Mary Hulse, Moses McCall, Abner Loyd, William Slayton and John K. Rollins. The first pastor was Rev. Amos Tutt. The church is a frame building, and was built in 1868. The present membership is 127. Rev. Winston is the present pastor of the church. Con- nected with the church is a Sunday-school, with B. F. Rollins as su- perintendent.


Gosneyville Christian Church - This church was instituted July 18, 1868, by Rev. Preston Aker and Josiah Waller. The constituent members were John Gosney, Thomas D. Sparks, F. M. Graham, A. J. Lawrence, Samuel Moore, N. W. Litton, Bird Benton, Wm. H. Shannon, Rufus Patcher, Peter L. Holtzclaw, Henry Anderson, W. M. Endicott, Archibald Holtzclaw, Franklin Holtzclaw, Amos Ander- son, James L. Vaughn, John Anderson, Francis McCracken, John W. Youtsey, Peter Youtsey, James C. Youtsey, David Summers, A.


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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.


E. Mackabell, Geo. E. T. Parker, Alex. C. Scott, Jasper Perrin, John Bernard, Robert A. Hamilton, Peter C. Callaway, Henry Snow, T. K. Ross, Saml. Fleming and William Grooms. The church now has about 65 members. In 1870 a plain frame edifice was built, costing $1,500. Revs. Thos. Williamson, Bayard Waller, A. J. Pickrell, Benj. Hyder, - Blake and R. C. Watson have all ministered to this church as pastors.


BIOGRAPHICAL.


JAMES F. ADAMS


(Manufacturer of and Dealer in Saddles, Harness, Etc., Etc., Smithville).


Near the historic hermitage of Gen. Jackson, in Wilson county, Tenn., Mr. Adams was born on the 19th of August, 1819. His pa- rents were James and Sarah ( Bernard ) Adams, and were originally from Virginia. They had removed, however, from that State to Kentucky and thence to Tennessee. In 1842 they came to Missouri and settled near Ridgeley, in Platte county, where the father followed farming and stock-raising. He died in 1866 at St. Joe, while on a trip to that place. The mother had preceded him in 1852. They had a family of nine children, six of whom are living. James F. Adams, the sub- ject of this sketch, was reared in Tennessee and came out to Platte county the year previous to the removal of his father's family to the county. In Tennessee he had learned and worked at the saddle and harnessmaker's trade and this he resumed at Ridgeley, in Platte county. In 1857, however, having previously bought a farm, he en- gaged in farming and continued that for nearly 20 years, or until 1876 when he came to Smithville and once more went to work at his trade. Mr. Adams was married in 1843 to Miss Mary Owen, a daugh- ter of Nicholas Owen, an early settler of Clay county from Kentucky. Mr. and Mrs. Adams have six children : Mary E., who has the mis- fortune to have been blind from infancy, resulting from a fever ; Sarah M., wife of Robert Reed, of St. Joe; Lou M., wife of W. L. DeBerry ; Maggie, wife of Dr. J. L. Mezner ; Julia M., wife of Ern- est Nelkerson, and James E. During President Polk's administration Mr. Adams was postmaster at Ridgeley.


GIDEON C. BLACKWOOD


(Owner and Proprietor of Oak Grove Stock Farm, Post-office, Liberty).


Oak Grove stock farm is situated six miles northwest from Liberty on the road leading from that place to Smithville. It contains 400 acres and is handsomely improved. The buildings, including the


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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.


residence, barns and outhouses, are of a superior class, and the place is not only well fenced, but divided up into convenient fields, pas- tures, meadows, etc., for farming and stock purposes. The land is principally run in blue grass, though enough is cultivated to produce a sufficiency of grain and other products for home use. It is also well watered, and in every sense is one of the choice stock farms of the county. The land is very fertile, and has never been impoverished by misuse either from over tillage or injudicious pasturing. Mr. Blackwood keeps his place in excellent condition and order, and takes hardly less pride in the appearance of the farm than in its utility. He makes a specialty of breeding and raising fine stock. It has been a rule of his for years always to breed the best stock to be had in the country, and never suffer a scrub of any sort to come on the place. He has a handsome herd of fine short horns, from which he annually sells a number of young bulls and heifers. His short horns are all of registered breeds, and are either registered themselves in the American Short Horn Herd Book, or are entitled to register upon proper appli- cation. He also has fine breeds of horses, hogs, sheep and other stock. Besides his fine stock interests, he makes a business of deal- ing in stock generally. Mr. Blackwood is a native Missourian, born in Clay county, April 7, 1858. His father was William Blackwood, originally from Gaston county, N. C., and late a substantial farmer of this county, but who died April 14, 1878. Mr. B.'s mother, who is still living, was a Miss Mary J. Stapp before her marriage, a daughter of Abijah Stapp, of Howard county. Gideon C. Blackwood is a young man unmarried.


JAMES W. BOGGESS (Farmer, Post-office, Smithville).


Among the prominent farmers of Platte township is the subject of the present sketch. Mr. Boggess' father, Dennis H. Boggess, was an early settler here from Kentucky. He was married in this county to Miss Nancy Corum, also originally from Kentucky. She died in 1863, leaving four children, four of whom are living. The father was an enterprising farmer of the county and a man well thought of by all who knew him. James W., the subject of this sketch, was born in this county, July 3, 1844. He attended the common schools in his youth and learned the occupation of farming as he grew up, together with raising and handling stock. He thus acquired a decided taste for the calling of farmer and stock-raiser and adopted it as his per- manent pursuit. He has been quite successful and is one of the sub- stantial agriculturalists of the township. He was married in Platte county, Mo., February 18, 1869, to Miss Elizabeth Srite, a daughter of John and America Srite, formerly of Kentucky. Mr. and Mrs. B. have had seven children, four of whom are living : William A., Carrie, Emma and Owen. Mr. and Mrs. B. are members of the Christian Church.


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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.


CAPT. ALPHEUS BOREGARD


(Post-office, Paradise).


From his father, John Boregard, the subject of this sketch inher- ited that patriotic love of country and desire for military activities which prompted him, when the call for troops was made to defend the Stars and Stripes, to enlist as a plighted soldier for the Union. At the breaking out of the war he entered the Third regiment, West Virginia calvary, U. S. A., and served until the close of the war. We can not take the space to follow him through his four years of campaigning in the various parts of the country or to give any idea of the dangers and hardships through which he passed. Suffice it to say, that as a soldier he was distinguished for bravery among as brave a body of men as ever kept step to martial music, or faced death without fear on the field of battle. He participated in all the campaigns and battles in which his command took part and was ever found in the front rank fearlessly and relentlessly fighting. For service in the battle of Five Forks he was made captain of a company, an honor conferred upon him for his courage and intrepidity. Capt. Boregard was born in Jackson county, Va., now West Virginia, September 10, 1834, and was a son of John and Sarah J. ( Postlethwaite ) Boregard, both Virginians by birth. The former was born October 12, 1789, and the latter in February, 1787. After their marriage in Virginia, they went to Meigs county, O., in 1842, where they both died, the father, January 15, 1863, and the mother May 15, 1872. The father was a potter by trade, and also followed farming. Mrs. B. was a member of the Baptist Church. Alpheus was reared in Meigs county, and was educated in the district schools of the neighborhood. He first learned the trade of ship building and afterwards that of car- penter and joiner, at which he worked until the outbreak of the war. After his return from that conflict he returned to Ohio, where he was engaged in the grocery business at Pomeroy. In May, 1868, he re- moved to Kansas City, Mo., following carpentering and building that year and in the fall removed to Clay county, where he is now occupied in tilling the soil and working in the occupation of a farmer. His landed estate embraces 120 acres in cultivation, upon which is a neat residence. In February, 1865, Capt. Boregard was married in Ohio to Miss Eliza Hall, who died in 1860, leaving three children : Alice, John A. and Maxie Belle. His second wife was Mrs. Melissa Boone, to whom he was married in Spencer county, Va., February 12, 1863. She was the widow of Dr. D. G. Boone, who was killed at Spencer Court House, August 6, 1861, by Confederate troops. Nine children have been born to them : William H. C., Otto D., Ferdinand DeSoto, Ada G. and Maud are living, and four are deceased. Capt. B. is connected with the I. O. O. F.


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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.


JOHN C. BRASFIELD


(Of Brasfield, Spratt & Thatcher, Dealers in General Merchandise, Post-office, Smithville).


Mr. Brasfield began mercantile life at the age of 18 as clerk, in 1859, in a general store at Smithville. There he continued as such until the breaking out of the late Civil War. Going to Pike's Peak in the spring of 1861, he remained there a short time and then returned the same year and entered the Confederate army, under Maj. Savory, in Price's army, serving about one year. During that time he was corporal of a company. He returned home in the spring of '63, and in the fall of that year went to Leavenworth, Kas., where he resumed the occupation of clerking in a wholesale dry goods establishment. Upon coming back to Missouri, in 1864, he embarked in business for himself, buying a small general stock of goods at Smithville, where he continued up to the spring of '66. He now disposed of his store at this place and removed to Platte county, locating at Linkville, where, for about 18 months, he conducted a store, or until was he burned out. Retracing his steps then to Smithville, in partnership with his father and father-in-law, he bought and fed 140 head of cattle, but in 1869 again went to Platte county, where he was occupied in farming until the year 1871. He now established himself once more in the mercantile business at Smithville, and, with one exception, has re- mained here since in his present calling. The firm of Brasfield, Spratt & Thatcher is one of the oldest established business houses in the county, and one of the best known and most reliable. Mr. Brasfield is himself also interested in real estate and has laid off an addition to the town of Smithville, known as Brasfield's Addition, which con- tains about 15 good dwellings and in the neighborhood of 40 excellent lots. Mr. Brasfield was born in Platte county, Mo., in 1841. His parents, Thomas W. R. and Elizabeth Brasfield, came to this State from Clay county, Ky., in 1832 or 1833. The parents of the former. settled in Clinton county, while his mother's parents ( Lynn and Eleanor Breckenridge ) located in Clay county. After the marriage of Mr. B.'s parents they removed to what is known as the Platte Purchase, where they were among the earliest settlers. The father was a merchant by occupation, and was fairly successful in business. He died in Platte county in 1874, his widow departing this life at Smithville in 1882. Mr. Brasfield was married in December, 1864, to Miss Minerva, a daughter of Daniel and Sarah Thatcher, of Platte county. They have four children : James W., Eleanor, John S. and Morton. Three are de- ceased, all dying in childhood: Mr. and Mrs. B. are members of the Christian Church. Mr. B. is connected with the A. F. and A. M., is a Chapter member, and also a Knight Templar. He also belongs to the I. O. O. F.


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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.


.


WILEY R. BRASFIELD


(Dealer in Drugs, Medicines, Etc., Smithville).


Mr. Brasfield is a younger brother to John C. Brasfield, whose sketch precedes this, and was born in Liberty township, this county, in 1848. As he grew up he had the advantage of a course in the Kan- sas City High School in addition to the usual course in the common schools. After concluding his high school course, in 1869, he en- gaged in farming in Platte county, the occupation to which he had been brought up, and he continued farming in that county with suc- cess for about ten years. In 1879, however, he came to Smithville and engaged in the drug business, which he has followed ever since. His store, now in the sixth year of its career, has long since passed the doubtful or experimental period of its career and has become es- tablished as one of the solid and fixed business houses of the place. He has a trade that he can always safely rely upon, it matters not what other houses come and go, a trade that is almost as secure for an income of a certain sum per annum as a Government pension. Be- sides this he has new customers coming to him all the time, so that his trade has a steady and substantial growth and increase. He un- derstands his business thoroughly, treats everybody fairly and sells at reasonable prices. Hence it is nonsense to suspect that he is not bound to succeed. In 1872 he was married to Miss Alwilda, a daughter of John L. DeBerry, of Platte county. However, Mr. Bras- field's first wife died about four years ago, leaving him two children : James E. and Lula K., besides losing two in infancy. The mother was an earnest member of the Baptist Church. To his present wife Mr. Brasfield was married in 1882. She was a Miss Florence Hord, a daughter of Elias Hord, a farmer and stock-raiser of this county. She is a member of the Christian Church, as is also Mr. Brasfield. He is furthermore a member of the A. F. and A. M.




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