History of Cooper County, Missouri, Part 71

Author: Johnson, William Foreman, b. 1861
Publication date: 1919
Publisher: Topeka : Historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1464

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HISTORY OF COOPER COUNTY

thereafter was confined in hospital, his condition for some time being re- garded as critical. He received his honorable discharge from the service and is now at home.

William F. Poertner was reared on the home farm in Franklin County and educated in the schools of Berger. As a young man he con- tinued his labors on the farm and was 21 years of age when he came to Cooper County with his mother in 1910. Two years later, in 1912, he bought the farm on which he is now living, in Clark's Fork township. This is a well-kept farm of 80 acres, which Mr. Poertner bought from Arby Mills. The farm is rich black second bottom land and there are two excellent running springs on the place. In addition to his general farming, Mr. Poertner raises cattle and hogs.

May 26, 1914, William F. Poertner was united in marriage with Ida Kohlsbusch, born in Franklin County, and to this union one child has been born, Grace, born in May, 1915. Mrs. Poertner is a daughter of Herman and Minnie Kohlbusch, natives of Missouri and whose last days were spent in Franklin County. Herman Kohlbusch died on March 18, 1919, and his wife died about 10 years prior to that time. They were the parents of eight children, of whom but three are still living, Mrs. Poert- ner having a brother, Louis Kohlbusch, a farmer in Franklin County, and a sister, Mrs. Charles Oberg, also of that county. The children now de- ceased were August, Edward, John, Sophia and Mary. Mr. and Mrs. Poertner are members of the Evangelical Church at Boonville.

· Henry Brokamp, owner of a well-kept farm of 80 acres, six and one- half miles northeast of Bunceton in Clarks Fork township, is a native son of Cooper County and has lived here all his life. He was born on a farm near Pisgah, Jan. 12, 1878, son of Henry J. and Mary Louise (Behle) Brokamp, and was the fourth of the six children born of that parentage, as follows: Mary, wife of Newton Mills, Clarks Fork township; William, same township; Bettie, wife of Chris Hein, Palestine township; Annie. wife of M. H. Lohse, of Clarks Fork; and Emil, on the home place. Henry J. Brokamp and his wife were natives of Germany, who came to this coun- try in 1869, locating in St. Louis County, whence they came to Cooper County and settled on a farm in Clarks Fork township, the place where Emil Brokamp now lives. Henry J. Brokamp died in 1903 and his widow died in 1916. Both are buried in the Clarks Fork Cemetery.

Reared on the home farm in the vicinity of Pisgah, Henry Brokamp received his schooling in the local parochial school and in the Jefferson District School, and from the days of his boyhood, has followed farming.

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He bought the farm on which he is now living in 1905, and since his mar- riage in the following year, he has lived on this place. Mr. Brokamp bought his farm, a part of the old Clark Hall farm, from John Hall and since taking possession of the same has made substantial improvements, including a remodeling of the farm house, the erection of a new barn and adequate drainage.

In 1906, Henry Brokamp was united in marriage with Minnie Kaiser, who, also, was born in this county; to this union one child has been born, Edgar, born Dec. 9, 1910. Mrs. Brokamp was born in Prairie Home town- ship May 24, 1878, daughter of George and Henrietta (Smith) Kaiser, and one of the five children: Mrs. Mary Schilb, of Otterville; John H. Kaiser, of North Moniteau township; and August and George, deceased ; and Mrs. Brokamp. The late George Kaiser, father of Mrs. Brokamp, was for years one of Prairie Home township's best known and most sub- stantial farmers, the owner at the time of his death of a fine place of 240 acres, the farm now owned by L. B. Laws. Mr. Kaiser was born Nov. 4, 1827, and died on Oct. 26, 1903. His wife died Feb. 19, 1897. She was born May 18, 1840. Both are buried in the Pleasant Grove Lutheran Church Cemetery.

Elmer George, a well known and successful farmer and stockman of Kelly township, and judge of the County Court of the eastern district, is a native of Cooper County. He was born in Boonville, March 17, 1862, a son of Thomas L. and Lucy (McCulloch) George. Thomas L. George was also a native of Cooper County, born Jan. 6, 1826. He spent his entire life in this county, and died in 1890, and his remains are buried in the McCulloch Cemetery. Thomas L. George and Lucy A. (McCulloch) George were married June 21, 1850. She was born in Albemarle County, Va., Nov. 1, 1826, a daughter of Robert and Patsy (Mills) McCulloch. The McCulloch family settled in Clarks Fork township, Cooper County, in 1835, and here the parents spent the remainder of their lives.

To Thomas L. and Lucy A. (McCulloch) George were born the fol- lowing children: Charles, Boonville; Frank, Boonville; Albert and Elmer, twins, Albert residing at Rock Island Texas, and Elmer, the subject of .his sketch ; Mrs. Ada Rudolph, deceased ; and Maggie, a successful Cooper ounty teacher.

Elmer George was reared in Cooper County and educated in the pub- lic schools. Since early manhood he has been engaged in farming and stock raising, and has met with well-merited success in this field of endeavor. He owns 120 acres of well improved and productive land

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HISTORY OF COOPER COUNTY

adjoining the town site of Bunceton. He has material on the place for the building of a new residence to succeed the old one, which is a brick structure, and has done service for many years, although it is still in a good state of preservation.

Since early life, Mr. George has manifested a strong liking and an unusual ability for mechanical work, and especially for machinery. He has always kept a machine and repair shop, which is equipped for general machine and repair work. He is capable of doing almost any kind of mechanical work. He has rebuilt threshing machines, manufactured wagons, and built an automobile. In connection with his other work he has operated a sawmill for a number of years.

March 21, 1888, Elmer George was united in marriage with Miss Martha E L. Steigleder, a daughter of Andrew and Mary Elizabeth (Hoch- stetler) Steigleder, the former born July 30, 1829, and the latter Aug. 15, 1834. The father died in 1909, and the mother now resides at Bunceton. They were the parents of the following children: William F., Bunceton ; George H., Bunceton; Anna E., married Herman P. Muntzel; Louis Rob- ert, Big Cabin, Okla .; Matilda Henrietta, married William Meyer, Clarks Fork township; Martha E. L., married Elmer George, the subject of this sketch; Sophia Barbara, married T. H. Etter, Richville, Wash., and Leona Luella, resides at home with her mother.

Mr. George is a republican, and has taken an active part in the polit- ical affairs of this township and county. He was elected in November, 1918, and is serving as judge of the County Court from the eastern dis- trict, and giving a satisfactory and praiseworthy administration. He was the first republican to be elected judge of the County Court from this District. He has been a member of the School Board for 21 years, and has always consistently advocated and encouraged the betterment of the public school system. Mr. George is an industrious man of good habits. He is 57 years of age and never drank liquor or used tobacco in any form.

To Mr. and Mrs. George have been born one son, T. Edgar George, born July 8, 1893, and resides at home with his parents. The George family are well known in Cooper County and rank among its leading citizens.

Christian F. King, one of the best known citizens of Clarks Fork township and is the second of the three sons of Jacob and Annie (Nohrn- berg) King. The other brothers, J. W. and H. M. King also reside on the place and C. F. King has a bachelor's home, which he built in the door- yard of his brother H. M. King and in which he thus feels himself very

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properly "boss of his own household". Jacob King, the father of these sons, was one of the real pioneers of that section of Cooper County and on the first clearing made on his quarter section of land there he set out an orchard, the first orchard in that neighborhood. This pioneer was a skilled cabinet-maker, an art he had learned in his native Denmark, and after settling here built a little cabinet-making shop and at "odd" times engaged in making furniture not only for his own household but for his pioneer neighbors, the products of his skill being in much demand. This handicraft skill was inherited by his son, C. F. King, and the latter is a cabinet-maker of exceptional ability, many of the products of his skill finding their way into the homes of the neighborhood, and his bachelor quarters are furnished in like manner. One of his most highly prized bits of furniture is a writing desk made by his father and a replica of which was sold in its day for $100. Mr. King also is an amateur photo- grapher of much skill and in his rooms are many evidences of his pro- ficiency in that art, to the development of which he gives much of his leisure which is not devoted to his prized wood-working tools. Some of the most interesting of the photographs which Mr. King has thus secured are scenes disclosed by his camera following the passing of the cyclone of 1916. One of these views shows the axle of a corn planter with wheel attached driven into a tree on the Smalsey farm. Another view shows a one-by-four scantling piercing an elm tree. Mr. King also has a number of exceedingly interesting views taken along the Missouri River during the height of the flood of 1903.

While fine woodworking and photography give Mr. King much pleasure in his leisure moments, it must not be supposed that he devotes all his time to these interesting and valuable "hobbies". Far from it, indeed. He owns a saw-mill and threshing machine rig and in connection with the former also operates a neighborhood store; while as a carpenter his services are in much demand, one of his recent bits of work along that line having been the construction of the fine woodwork on the house not long ago built by H. H. Fahenbrink and on which the finishing is of the very highest order.

Joseph A. Davis, one of the best known of the "old time" residents of Prairie Home township, was born on his present farm and has lived there all his life. The little old log cabin in which he was born is still standing in the dooryard of his present home and, with its contents serves to recall the memory of pioneer times. Mr. Davis' parents established their home here in 1857 and there are preserved many interesting relics

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of that period, including a brass kettle, familiar adjunct of the great fire place which occupies the greater part of one end of the cabin; a hackle with which the flax was rendered fit for spinning, the mother's spinning- wheel and quite a few other bits of furniture of the period. Mr. Davis also owns his father's old rifle, bearing the manufacturer's date of 1831, and this he also prizes very highly, as well as the powder horn, the bullet pouch and the charge measure. But perhaps the most vital point of interest connected with that little old log cabin is the fact that it very properly may be regarded as the practical birthplace of the Christian Church in Cooper County, for it was his father, the Rev. O. P. Davis, who settled there in 1857 and who preached the gospel of Christ in accord- ance with the tenets of the Christian Church throughout this county and in the neighboring counties of Moniteau and down as far as Miller County, to whom the history of that period ascribes a very large measure of the credit for establishing and building up the Christian Church hereabout.

Rev. Oliver Perry Davis was born in Wayne County, Ky., Sept. 26, 1816, son of Major Drury Davis and wife, the latter of whom was the daughter of Capt. North East, of that county, and was the first born of twelve sons and four daughters. Major Drury Davis, a veteran of the War of 1812, came with his wife and their first-born son. the latter being carried on horseback in the arms of his mother, from Wayne County, Ky .. to Missouri in the fall of 1817 and settled in Howard County, where not long afterward he was elected the first justice of the peace. About three years later he moved to Cole County and settled at the site of a great spring 16 miles southwest of Jefferson City, where he began the manufac- ture of gunpowder. He was elected justice of the peace there, was com- missioned a major of the state militia and represented Cole County in the state Legislature. In 1832 he moved to Cooper County and for 11 years made his home here, moving then to Macon County, where he was engaged in farming and merchandising until 1856, when he returned to Cooper County and spent the remainder of his life. He died Oct. 10, 1872, aged 85 years.

In 1837, while the family were living in this county, Rev. O. P. Davis became a member of the Baptist Church at Pisgah. In 1839, in company with his younger brother, Jeremiah, he went to Macon County and there in 1842 was licensed to preach. In the spring of 1843 he was regularly ordained as a minister. For three years thereafter the Rev. O. P. Davis preached for the Baptist church, or until he was formally accused of preaching Campbellism; whereupon he withdrew from the Baptist com-

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munion and in the fall of 1848 identified himself with the Christian Church, with which he ever afterward remained affiliated.

Sept. 12, 1843, the Rev. O. P. Davis was united in marriage to Sallie L. Robinson, of Mercer County, and to that union were born eight chil- dren: Margaret Ann, married Judge J. H. Zollinger and is now deceased ; Samuel R., died at St. Louis, during the Civil War; D. L. Davis died at Sedalia while on a visit; Nancy Jane, wife of Hugh Logan, Sr .; U. E. Davis, Chicago; Susan F., married D. J. Judy and is deceased ; Joseph A .; and Lucy B., wife of Hugh Logan, Jr.

Joseph A. Davis, son of the Rev. O. P. and Sallie L. (Robinson) Davis, was born Sept. 19, 1857. He received his schooling in the New Salem district school, James F. Adams being his first teacher. Mr. Davis has made farming his life's work but is now practically retired, renting the place to his son-in-law, Roger Q. Mills. Mr. Davis is a democrat, has filled offices on the local school board and is an elder in the Walnut Grove Christian church, of which he has been a member since his boyhood.

Jan. 25, 1888, Joseph A. Davis was united in marriage with Kate Logan, who was born in Missouri and to this union two children were born: Fannie Logan died in infancy and Jessie Ann, wife of Roger Q. Mills, who is farming the home place. Mrs. Davis was born March 9, 1858, died Jan. 2, 1908, and is buried in the Walnut Grove Church yard. Though born in this state, she was reared in the neighborhood of Stam- ford in Lincoln County, Ky., where her father died. Her mother died in Chicago and her body was taken to Lincoln County, Ky. for interment beside that of her husband.

William Foreman Johnson .- If signal achievement in a civic sense is a criterion whereby a good citizen's standing in the community is meas- ured and a definite place in history is thus assured him by reason of his labors in behalf of his home city and county, then W. F. Johnson's place in the history of his home county of Cooper is established. During his 30 years of practice in the courts of central Missouri and throughout the state, he has won a place of importance among the legal fraternity ; those years have likewise been spent in promoting the development of his home city in ways which are enduring and beneficial, with the welfare of his fellow citizens and the city and county ever uppermost in his thoughts. Mr. Johnson may not have amassed great wealth as some men have; he may not have won nation wide fame but he possesses what few Cooper County citizens can boast-the warm friendship and esteem of the great mass of citizens of this county. William Foreman Johnson was born Feb.

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MRS. NEWTON H. JOHNSON AND CHILDREN

NEWTON H. JOHNSON

MRS. C. B. JOHNSON

C. B. JOHNSON

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8, 1861, in Shelbyville, Shelby County, Mo. He is the son of Prof. Charles Brown Johnson, a native of Owen County, Ky.

Prof. Charles Brown Johnson was born Oct. 22, 1824, the fourth child of a family of seven children born to William C. and Harriet (Dillon) Johnson of Kentucky. William C. Johnson was a Kentucky pioneer who removed to that state from Ohio and followed the profession of government surveyor. He entered large tracts of land in Kentucky and developed a considerable estate. The Johnson family became prominent in Kentucky and the seven children of William C. Johnson were reared and educated in that state. Prof. C. B. Johnson, after completing a preparatory course of study, was graduated from St. Mary's College, and also completed the course in the Kentucky Military School, near Frankfort. Following the completion of his education he was engaged in the manufacture of plows until his removal to Shelbyville, Mo., in 1856, where he established a male and female seminary. During the Civil War he organized a company of soldiers for service in the Confederate army, attempted to join General Price's army, was captured by the Federals and paroled. For over 40 years, Professor Johnson was engaged in teaching and during that time he had charge of some of the best academic schools in Kentucky and Mis- souri. He served two terms as school commissioner of Shelby County. In 1881 he came to Pilot Grove and with his son William F. of this re- view, took charge of the Pilot Grove Collegiate Institute which had been previously established by his oldest son, Charles Newton Johnston. He with his son W. F. had charge of this widely known institute for six years and spent his last days in Boonville where he died Sunday morning, June 8, 1900. Professor Johnson was a Presbyterian and a Mason and was always a democrat.

Prof. C. B. Johnson was twice married. His first marriage was on May 15, 1849, with Miss Hannah Walton, of Kentucky, who died in Nov., 1851. He was again married Feb. 22, 1853, to Miss Elizabeth Ford, a daughter of Jeremiah. and Artemesia (Baker) Ford of Kentucky, both of whom were natives of Virginia. The other son born to this union besides the subject of this review was Prof. Charles Newton Johnson, a graduate of the Annapolis Naval Academy, the Chicago Conservatory of Music and the Hamil School of Elocution. He taught in Shelbina College and established the Pilot Grove Collegiate Institute in 1879. He died three years later, in 1882.

Mrs. Elizabeth Johnson, mother of W. F. and Charles N. Johnson was a woman of fine attainments and education. She was an accomplished

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teacher who shared the labors of her husband and sons in their educational work. She died in Boonville in July, 1916, aged 90 years. In dedicating this volume of Cooper County History to the memory of his parents, Mr. W. F. Johnson is conveying a tribute to their memories and building a monument which will be as enduring as any marble or granite shaft.

The education of William F. Johnson was obtained largely under his father's preceptorship in the Brandenburg, Ky. Seminary and Shelbina College. He held the position of assistant principal of the Shelbina, Mo., public schools in 1880. He came to Pilot Grove and was associated with his brother in the Pilot Grove Collegiate Institute for one year. He and his father then conducted the institute until 1888. He then served as publisher and editor of the "Pilot Grove Leader" until his election to the office of State representative in the General Assembly at the revising session 1888-89. In 1889 he was admitted to the practice of law and removed to Boonville in 1894. For a number of years Mr. Johnson was prominent in county, state and national politics and was one of the real leaders of the democratic party in the state. He was elected prosecuting attorney of Cooper County in 1906, re-elected in 1908 and 1910, serving six years in all. In 1912 he was a delegate to the National Democratic Convention held at Baltimore and there supported his kinsman, Champ Clark for the presidential nomination.

Mr. Johnson was married in 1882 to Miss Margaret Harris, a daugh- ter of E. H. Harris, of Pilot Grove, Mo. Three children have blessed this marriage, as follows: Mary Elizabeth, wife of Walter M. Small, a geologist whose home is in Franklin, Pa .; Marguerite, wife of E. H. Green, a capitalist of New York City, mother of one child, Marguerite, born in Dec., 1918; Newton H., born Dec. 9, 1884, educated in Kemper Military School, engaged in the real estate and insurance business, married Miss Tess Underwood and has two children, Joellis and Barbara.

Mr. Johnson became a member of Wm. D. Muir Lodge No. 277, of Pilot Grove, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons in 1882, and is a past master of this lodge. He became affiliated with Cooper Lodge No. 36, of Boonville, in 1897, and is past master of this lodge. He has filled the post of Grand Senior Warden of the Missouri Grand Lodge of Masons; is Past Grand High Priest of the Royal Arch Chapter; is past commander of Olivet Commandery Knights Templar and a member of the council and a Shriner.

Mr. Johnson served for six years as a member of the Missouri Re- formatory in Boonville. For fifteen years he has been a member of the

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Boonville Board of Education and has been the foremost champion of edu- cational progress in the city. He championed the erection of the Laura Speed Elliot High School building and through his personal influence with Col. John Elliot, the city became the recipient of Col. Elliot's generosity in giving the lot upon which the building stands, to the city.

No greater friend to the cause of education resides in Cooper County than Mr. Johnson. For eight years he served as president of the Com- mercial Club and during his period of office many notable civic improve- ments were fathered by the club and brought to fruition, all of which stand as testimony to his worth as a citizen and his abiding love for his home city. This history of Cooper county which he has written has been a labor of love and a pleasure on his part to record the story of the mak- ing of Cooper County in order that posterity might know what manner of men and women were those who developed this fair and fertile tract of land into the present thriving and rich county, and built the cities and towns which grace the country side .- Written by Robert M. Gibson.

Charles Newell Menefee, proprietor of an excellent farm of 200 acres in Prairie Home township, was born on a farm in Nicholas County, Ky., Aug. 4, 1850, son of Frank S. and Mary Frances (Hamilton) Menefee, both natives of that county and the latter of whom was a daughter of Col. William Hamilton, an officer of the War of 1812, who died on that farm at the age of 89 years.

Frank S. Menefee came to Missouri with his family in 1860 and located in Knox County, but two years later returned to Kentucky, where he remained until 1867, when he came back to Missouri with a view to settling in Calloway County, but came over into Cooper County and settled on the farm now owned by C. N. Menefee and here spent the rest of his life. During the Civil War Frank S. Menefee was an ardent Southern sympathizer and was for three months held as a prisoner of war by the Federals on account of his outspoken views. He was born on Jan. 30, 1825, and died on Sept. 20, 1888. His widow died May 29, 1900. She was born on June 28, 1827. They were the parents of six children: Charles Newell; John A., living in Montana; William H., whereabouts unknown; Jonah, whereabouts unknown; Samuel G., Denver, Col., and Mrs. George Adams, Boulder, Col.

C. N. Menefee grew to manhood on the farm where he is now living, and in time bought the other heirs' interests. This is a well improved farm of 200 acres and the house was erected by Jesse McFarland, the owner prior to the Civil War. McFarland sold the place to Benjamin and

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Solon Smith. The Smiths sold to Frank S. Menefee upon the latter's arrival here in 1867 and it has been in the possession of the Menefee family since. Mr. Menefee is a democrat, but has never sought office. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America at Prairie Home. For 25 years he was an extensive breeder of Poland China hogs and while thus engaged held 19 sales.

March 10, 1881, C. N. Menefee was married to Elizabeth Taylor, who was born in Missouri, daughter of William Taylor and wife, both of whom also were born in this state and died at Herndon, Mo. William Taylor and wife were the parents of six children: Mrs. Menefee; Mrs. Mary Finley, Saline county ; Mrs. Linnie Champion, Montrose, Colo .; James, Saline County ; Henry, Montrose, and Robert, Herndon. Mr. and Mrs. Menefee have one child, Mary, wife of Frank Poindexter, who was with the American Expeditionary Forces in Europe and a part of the Army of Occupation in Germany. Mr. Poindexter was one of the first men in Cooper County to be inducted into the National Army and was sent to Camp Funston in April, 1918, to France for overseas service with the 356th Regiment, 89th Division, which after the signing of the armistice was a part of the American Army of Occupation and was sent back to America and received his honorable discharge at Camp Funston, June 10, 1919.

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History of Cooper County, Missouri, Part 71

Author: Johnson, William Foreman, b. 1861 Publication date: 1919 Publisher: Topeka : Historical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1464

Author: Johnson, William Foreman, b. 1861
Publication date: 1919
Publisher: Topeka : Historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1464