USA > Missouri > Dunklin County > History of Dunklin County, Mo., 1845-1895 Embracing an historical account of the towns and post-villages of Clarkton, Cotton Plant, Cardwell, Caruth [etc.] Including a department devoted to the description of the early appearance, settlement, development, resources With an album of its people and homes, profusely illustrated > Part 11
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Mr. Gardner has owned several nice tracts of land, some of which he has given to his children. He is a member of the I. O. O. F., and both he and his wife are members of the M. E. C. S. A staunch Republi- can in politics, he has voted for every Republican President but Garfield, and was then away from home on election day.
His son, Hiram A., is a prominent farmer and stock dealer at Campbell. He is a member of the I. O. O. F., has been deputy grand master of his district, and is held in high regard by that order all over Dunklin County.
Another son, Winfield Scott Gardner, is, despite the fact that he is a Republican, holding the position of
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Deputy Collector under a Democrat in a county which has a large Democratic majority. He resides in Mal- den, Mo., and was for several years a member of the firm of Gregory & Gardner. Is a member of the Republican Central Committee, and of the I. O. O. F. Comparatively few men are better known or held in higher esteem by the people of Dunklin County than are the gentlemen of the Gardner family.
Rev. M. TAYLOR GRIGORY was born September 18, 1849, near Kennett, Dunklin County, Missouri. His father, Rev. Jas. R. Grigory, was born October 29, 1810, and was a native of Georgia, but emigrated to Bond County, Illinois, where at the age of twenty- three he married Sarah A. Ellegood, a native of that State.
Rev. Grigory, Sr., did not enjoy good health in Illinois and decided to move to Southeast Missouri. His neighbors assisted him to pack his wagons and he started with wife and four little girls, in the old- fashioned way on a long overland journey.
He stopped on Castor River, near Bloomfield, Mis- souri, for two years, but was not altogether satisfied with that county and came on to Dunklin County in 1845.
He had not regained his health and his family were nearly in destitute circumstances ; and on his arrival in this county were taken in by Mr. Shipley, where they remained through the winter following. His new-found friends advised him to trade some of his horses and wagons for 220 acres of land; this he
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MR. J. HIRSCH AND WIFE.
KENNETT HIGH SCHOOL.
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did, settling about four miles north of Kennett, where he soon regained his health and there lived the remain- der of his life.
James R. Grigory united with the Methodist Church when a young man, and on coming to Dunklin County was soon appointed class leader and afterward licensed to preach. He was about the second local Methodist preacher in this county and was also preacher in charge for several years of the Grand Prairie Circuit, which was then a very extensive field. He often rode forty miles in a day and preached three times, in order to fill all his appointments. He is also said to have . delivered the first sermon ever preached on Big Lake Island, Arkansas. He served six months in the Black Hawk War, and on the breaking out of the Civil War his sympathies were with the South. At its close he had some trouble about holding his preacher's license but the division of the churches ended his dif- ficulty and he continued to preach as a minister of the M. E. C. S.
His son, Rev. M. Taylor Grigory, was reared on the old Grigory farm and educated in the common schools of Dunklin County, and at the age of twenty-one began teaching, and at twenty-three was married to Miss Jane Roach, a native of Tennessee. At the age of thirty-five he united with the M. E. C. S. and was licensed to preach one year later. He was preacher in charge of Kennett Circuit in 1888, and has done much other pas- torate work. Shortly after his marriage he bought land near Kennett, where he lived for years, when
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he removed to Jonesborough, Arkansas, in order to give his two children, Loula and Eva, the benefit of a town school. However, he did not have good health in Arkansas, so he returned to Dunklin, where, in forty days, he had gained in flesh about as many pounds. He again engaged in farming in summer, and teaching during the fall and winter months. He continues to farm and devotes some time to the ministry.
Rev. Grigory is Democratic in politics and the family are all members of the Methodist Church. He is well and favorably known all over the county.
J. H. HARKEY, present judge of the Second Dis- trict, is the son of Daniel D. and Mary A. Bankston- Harkey, and was born October 27, 1843, in Pike County, Georgia. Daniel D. was a native of North Carolina and Mrs. Harkey of Georgia. They came to this county in 1853 and located on Grand Prairie, where they resided until their death. They were both charter members of the old Harkey's chapel class of the M. E. C. S., helped to build the first house by that name, and were always among the church's most consistent and powerful workers. Judge J. H. Harkey holds the only office he has ever asked for at the hands of the county. He is Democratic in politics and quite influential in his neighborhood. He joined the Masonic order at Hornersville in 1872, and is also a member of the I. O. O. F. and has passed through nearly all of the chairs of both lodges. He was joined in marriage to Miss Francis Ham on April 2, 1863. Mrs. Harkey
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was born at Hickman Bend, Ark., in 1847, and is the daughter of Thomas H. and Francis C. Branch-Ham.
Her maternal grandfather was of Irish descent and quite a noted man. He surveyed the Western Dis- trict and was a Captain on the American side in the Revolutionary War.
Judge and Mrs. Harkey have no children of their own, but have raised a number of orphans ; among them are R. M. Reeves, Annie Dyerhouse, Frazier Dickson, Ralph and Rosie Harkey, and they now have little Bertie Secreese. Judge Harkey has been Sun- day-school superintendent at Harkey Chapel for four years and both he and Mrs. Harkey are members of the M. E. C. S.
WILBURN D. HARKEY, of Nesbit, was born March 20, 1837, in Pike County, Georgia. He is the son of Daniel and Mary A. Bankston-Harkey, pioneers who came to Dunklin County in 1851, at which time their son, the subject of this sketch, was just fourteen years of age.
He attained his growth in this county and in 1858 was married to Margaret McEacher. In 1862 Mr. Harkey enlisted in the Confederate Army, Second Missouri Cavalry, under Col. Mccullough. At the expiration of twelve months, for which time he had enlisted he went into Col. Kitchen's regiment, with whom he remained until the close of the war, surren- dering at Wittsburg, Ark. He was in the battles of Iuka and Corinth and in a great many skirmishes.
The children of Mr. and Mrs. Harkey are : Wilburn
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O., A. Jasper, William L., Edward L., Thomas F. and Bascom S. Two of these are married, Wilburn O. to Callie Grogan, and William L. to Anna Bowers.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Harkey are among the oldest members of the Old Harkey's Chapel M. E. C. S. and have always been consistent and powerful workers.
They settled on their present farm in 1867. It is one of the best improved farms around Nesbit, with nice orchard, good residence, barns, etc. Mr. Harkey is a member of the Masonic order and a Democrat in politics.
BEN. F. HICKS, stock and grain dealer, Halcomb, Mo., was born April 23, 1849, and is the son of John and Nancy Langford-Hicks, natives of Middle Tennessee. The parents, however, removed to Henry County, West Tennessee, in 1851, where the father was magistrate for eighteen continuous years, and also held the office of County Trustee.
Benjamin F. Hicks grew to manhood in Henry County, near Paris, Tennessee, and was educated in the Sulphur Well Academy. In 1870 he went to the Pacific Coast, and for four years was a resident of California and Nevada. In 1874 he returned home, and November 2d of the same year, was married to Miss E. Tennie Williams, a native of Tennessee. April, 1876, she died, leaving one child, George A.
October 30, 1877, Mr. Hicks took for a second companion, Miss Ida E. Blakemore, also a native of Tennessee. She was reared near Paris, educated in the common schools of her native State, and the
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Murry Institute, in Murry, Kentucky, and is a daughter of William S. and Isabella Williams-Blakemore. The father was for several years sheriff of Henry County, Tenn. She has three brothers in this county, all of whom own nice homes near Halcomb, and is also a relative of J. B. Blakemore, circuit clerk of Dunklin County. Mrs. Hicks is a member of the M.
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B. F. HICKS AND WIFE.
E. C. S. and is one of the most ardent supporters of that church at Halcomb.
The children of Mr. and Mrs. Hicks are Hattie B., Taylor P., Clinton C., and Blanch A. Mr. Hicks came to Dunklin County in 1880, and located at Hal- comb Island, which was then in a very primitive condi- tion. He bought land, built a modest residence just in front of the " Lone Pine Tree," and it is said that his is the best improved and most conveniently fenced
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HISTORY OF DUNKLIN COUNTY, MO.
farm in Dunklin County. He is a large dealer in grain and stock and a man of good information, and is a member of the Masonic fraternity and of the Chris- tian Church. Both he and Mrs. Hicks are broad- minded Christian workers and liberal givers to all the church denominations.
J. HIRSCH, proprietor of the New York Store, Kennett, Mo., is the youngest merchant in Kennett. He is only about twenty-five years of age, was born in Germany and has been in America but seven years. Five years of this time he resided in New York City and he has been two years in Kennett. In May, 1895, he married Miss Fannie Kaufman, sister to the members of the firm of Kaufman Bros., Cairo, III. The New York Store is situated in the Tatum Block and is conducted on the Eastern city style, being confined strictly to dry goods, clothing, ladies' and gents' furnishing goods, etc., and making a specialty of fine millinery. In order to have the latest styles and ideas in trimming Mr. and Mrs. Hirsch have an Eastern trimmer fresh from the shop each season. The New York Store has been exceptionally success- ful and is introducing regularly the latest styles and novelties in every line carried. (See photo, p. 195. )
E. G. HENDERSON, editor " Dunklin County Regis ter," was born in Catoosa County, Georgia, but when very young moved to Arkansas and was reared at Batesville, Independence County. In 1869-70 he learned the printer's trade in Little Rock, Ark., and
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in 1872 moved to Evening Shade, Sharpe County, where he worked at his trade alternately with other employment for twenty-two years. During eleven years of this time he was owner and editor of the
E. G. HENDERSON.
" Sharp County Record," making that paper one of the most prominent and popular journals in North Arkansas. In 1895, Mr. Henderson disposed of the Record plant and in October of the same year estab lished the " Dunklin County Register " at Malden, Mo.
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HISTORY OF DUNKLIN COUNTY, MO.
This paper is fast gaining favor with the people of this county, now having a circulation of over 650. Mr. Henderson is a Democrat in politics and, of course, advocates these principles in his paper.
Though he has not been long in this county, Mal- den's people believe they have gained an able editor in E. G. Henderson. He is a member of the M. E. C. S. and of the I. O. O. F. and Masonic fraternities.
CHARLES O. HOFFMAN, Judge of the Probate Court, Dunklin County, was born May 30, 1846; is a native of Virginia ; was reared in Richmond, Va., and Atlanta, Ga. He came to Dunklin County, Mo., and located near Clarkton in the early seventies. In Jan- uary, 1874, he married Emma Ashcraft, daughter of Casswell Ashcraft, formerly of Clarkton and a pioneer of this county.
To this union were born four children, Della ( now a young lady and a general favorite with the young people of Kennett ), Homer, Lillian and Tom.
The mother of these children died in 1884, and in about four years Judge Hoffman married Mrs. Bird, by whom he is the father of two children, Bee and Virginia.
Judge Hoffman has held the office of Probate Judge since 1886, being elected in that year, and re-elected in 1890 and in 1894; his term will expire in 1898, when he will have held this position twelve years. In 1894 he had no opposing candidate neither before the Democratic primary nor general election, and there was polled for him the largest number of votes of any
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candidate in the county. He has filled the position of Probate Judge with the greatest satisfaction and is one of the most popular and highly esteemed gentle- men in this county.
W. E. HOPPER, manager of the Campbell Roller Mills, Campbell, Mo., was born September 17, 1857, in Weakley County, Tennessee.
His parents, Andrew Darby Hopper and Mary Elizabeth Emily Clary, were married July 2, 1851, and came to Dunklin County in 1860. Mr. Hopper was a farmer, and on coming to Missouri purchased land near Campbell, or what was then Four Mile. He was a very large man, weighing 225 pounds, a Democrat in politics and a member of the Missionary Baptist Church; a native of Tennessee, born May 16, 1829, and died in Dunklin County, Mo., March 24, 1878. Mrs. Hopper is also a native of Tennessee, born December 7, 1825, and resides near Campbell with her children. She and Mr. Hopper were the parents of four children, who all live near Campbell, in fact, they all own homes in the same township. They are, Martha Ann E., born January 16, 1856 ; Minerva Caroline, born September 25, 1859; Benja- min Forester, born May 2, 1865 ; and William Elbert, who is the subject of this sketch. He was but three years of age when his parents brought him to Dunklin County, where he grew to manhood and received his education in the common schools. October 15, 1884, he was married to Miss Anna Lorena Blakeney, a native of North Carolina. To
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them have been born five children, Lessie Ann, Henry Earl, Susana, Darby Leander, and Ethen Elbert ( deceased ).
Mr. Hopper owns the old Hopper home, four miles north of Campbell, on which some of the Hopper family have resided for nearly thirty years. The house is surrounded by hickory trees, which shelter the ground where Mr. Hopper played in his boyhood days and also where his children have spent much of their youth. While he now resides in Campbell in a much more pretentious home the old country home is doubtless the best loved residence.
In March, 1895, Mr. Hopper was elected General Manager of the Campbell Roller Mills, and his able management and accommodating and genial manner as well as the good quality of its flour have won for the new enterprise many friends.
Mr. Hopper is a member of the School Board at Campbell, is much interested in educational matters and is ever ready to lend a helping hand to any enterprise which will promote the general welfare of his best loved county or State.
He is a Democrat in politics and both he and wife are members of the Missionary Baptist Church.
M. W. HUBBARD, proprietor of the firm of that name in Clarkton, Mo., was born April 7, 1840, in Madison County, Kentucky. He is the son of Green- vil and Mary Jarman-Hubbard, natives of the above mentioned State. He came to Dunklin County in 1861, and is, save J. B. Penny, the oldest resident citizen now in Clarkton.
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He married Bettie Hodges, a daughter of Judge Hodges, pioneer of this county, Feburary 1, 1864. Their children are Robert G., who married Flora Timberman ; Albert, Walter, who married Maggie Young of Portageville, Mo., and Charlie and Mollie. Mr. and Mrs. Hubbard are members of the Cumber- land Presbyterian Church. He is Democratic in poli-
M. W. HUBBARD AND WIFE.
tics and was deputy sheriff in this county under Press Nicols. Mr. Hubbard has been in the merchandising business in Clarkton about fourteen years and keeps a full and complete line of everything usually found in a general store. He is a pioneer whose charac- ter has ever been unspotted and who is well and favorably known in the county.
J. E. JONES, son of Isaiah and Media Ann (Miller ) Jones, natives of Tennessee and New York respect- ively, was born April 11, 1848, in this county, his father having come here in 1839, and, with Judge E. J.
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HISTORY OF DUNKLIN COUNTY, MO.
Langdon as a partner, started a carriage, cooper and blacksmith shop near Cotton Plant. J. E. Jones married Miss Hettie W. Chapman, daughter of Turner and Hulda Mott-Chapman, on April 6, 1870. They resided near Hornersville for several years, but settled on his present home near Nesbit twenty years ago. Mr. Jones is one of the foremost farmers in his vicin-
J. E. JONES.
ity, owns over 200 acres of land, and always has good horses, cattle, etc., around his place. He has been road overseer for four years and is well known and well liked among the people. He is Democratic in politics, has considerable influence and always wields it for his political favorites.
Mrs. Jones is a member of the M. E. C. S. Their children are, respectively, Willie Edd (married to Miss Lula Bowers), Anna Lou (now Mrs. L. Riggs, of Kennett), Lizzie B., Hubert, Curtis Isaiah, and Glenn, and have lost four by death,
HISTORY OF DUNKLIN COUNTY, MO. 209
JAMES T. KARNS, of the firm of R. M. Bone & Co., Senath, Mo., was born June 2, 1859. His parents, John and Cynthia C. Sanford-Karnes, were natives of Gibson County, Tennessee, and came to Pemiscot County, Missouri, in 1861, and on to Dunklin County in 1870. They located on Horse Island near where " Lulu " is now situated, opened up a farm and con- tinued to reside there until the death of Mr. Karns, June 27, 1886.
J. T. Karns, the subject of this sketch, first went in business at Lulu and was the first postmaster at that place. He removed to his present place of business in 1886. He acquired his education in this county and is a Dunklin County business man out and out. His firm, R. M. Bone & Co., keep a complete line of general merchandise. J. T. Karns and Mary I. Barr were united in marriage December 25, 1885. Their little daughter Estella was born November 10, 1891. They have three children dead.
Mrs. Karns is a member of the Christian Church and Mr. Karns is Democratic in politics.
A. J. KERFOOT, vice-president of the St. Louis, Kennett & Southern Railroad, was born in Jefferson County, Va., August 17, 1857. Emigrated to Cooper County, Mo., in March, 1867. Attended public school at Boonville until 1874, when he entered the railroad service as water boy on construction work. Continued in the service of the M., K. & T., Houston & Texas Central and Chicago & Alton, as conductor and brakeman, until January, 1890. Organized the
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HISTORY OF DUNKLIN COUNTY, MO.
St. L., K. & S. R. R. Co., in March, 1890, and super intended the construction of same, completing it in December of the same year. Was appointed super- intendent of transportation in January, 1891, which position he held until December, 1895, at which time he resigned as superintendent and was elected vice- president, which position he now holds. Too much +
A. J. KERFOOT.
cannot be said for Mr. Kerfoot as a business man or for his energy and perseverence in bringing this road up to a fair standard for a new railroad.
In addition to his railroad business he is interested in the firm of E. S. McCarty & Co., being business manager of the firm. This firm owns stores at Ken- nett, White Oak, and Pascola, Pemiscot County, doing a general merchandise and timber business ; and also owns the celebrated Armstrong Springs, located in White County, Ark., at which place they also have a store, and are erecting a large hotel and
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HISTORY OF DUNKLIN COUNTY, MO.
otherwise improving the property to the extent of $12,000.
Mr. Kerfoot's father, G. W. Kerfoot, is still living, being seventy-eight years of age; his mother died of pneumonia, March, 1891, at the age of sixty years.
JUDGE EDWIN J. LANGDON was born August 7, 1819, at Middleberry, Vermont. His parents, Hiram and Polly Dowd-Langdon, were of Scotch descent and emigrated to Granville, Licking County, Ohio. When their son Edwin J. was just seventeen years of age, here he taught school and improved his educa- tion and came on to Dunklin County, Mo., in 1839. In 1847 he married Sarah A. Glasscock, who was born near Pocahontas, Arkansas, and is the daughter of Robt. L. and Elizabeth Sullinger Glasscock, early pioneers of this county. The mother was of Scotch and Cherokee, while the father was of Irish descent ; they emigrated from Old Jackson, Missouri, to Dun- klin County, about 1845. Judge Langdon started his career in this county without money and when the country was in a very primitive condition. He was a carriage maker by trade and he and Isaiah Jones opened a carriage, coopers' and blacksmith shop near Cotton Plant in the early forties, and they turned out some of the first pails, carriages and wagons made in this county. In 1846 he assisted his father, Hiram Langdon, to build the first courthouse erected in this county. In 1847-1848 he built the Buffalo Creek levee between Kennett and
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HISTORY OF DUNKLIN COUNTY, MO.
Vincit. The money which he received for the com- pletion of this contract, he often said was the first from which he ever appeared to receive much benefit. With it he bought goods and opened a small store at Cotton Plant. It is safe to say that this money was the foundation of his future estate, which estate at his death, in November, 1892, was worth some $200,000
JUDGE E. J. LANGDON AND WIFE.
or $300,000. Judge Langdon was President of the County Court of Dunklin County from 1878 to 1884 inclusive. He was a very public-spirited man and did much for the improvement of public roads, public schools, churches and other enterprises to advance the general good of the county. He launched one of the first flat-boats on Little River at Hornersville, owned
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HISTORY OF DUNKLIN COUNTY, MO.
and operated one of the first cotton gins and general stores, and did as much as any other man to bring up the morals of the county, and he was, all things being considered, perhaps the greatest man Dunklin County has ever had. A man whose public and private life will bear the closest scrutiny; and while he condemned wrong, he was infinitely patient and forbearing; his heart was never made cold by silver and gold, but was always open to unfortunate humanity. He had not the wealth of many men, but his life was certainly a success. He died in his Arcadia home in Iron County, Mo., but was brought back to his old home for funeral services and his remains rest in the family cemetery at Cotton Plant. Mrs. Lang- don is living and enjoys fairly good health. She resides with her daugher, Hettie D, wife of R. H. Jones, of Kennett, Mo.
Mrs. Jones is the youngest child and only daughter Judge and Mrs. Langdon raised, and has been since her early youth, considered one of the handsomest women of Dunklin County. Three sons are the other children of Judge and Mrs. Langdon living; they are : William H. (of Jonesboro, Texas), C. V. and A. J. of Cotton Plant, this county. Those deceased are Truman C., who died after reaching manhood, leaving a family, and Ruth E., Eddie B., Nellie B., and Jimmie J., who died in infancy.
Judge Langdon was a Democrat in politics, a mem- ber of the Masonic fraternity and of the M. E. C. S., Mrs. Langdon is a member of the M. E. C. S. and of the Rebekah Degree of I. O. O. F.
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HISTORY OF DUNKLIN COUNTY, MO.
CHARLES V. LANGDON was born October 10th, 1855, in Dunklin County, Mo. He is the son of Edwin J. and Sarah A. Glasscock Langdon ( see
sketch elsewhere). The subject of this sketch grew to manhood in this county, received a good education, assisted his father on the farm and in the store at
RESIDENCE OF C. V. LANGDON, COTTON PLANT.
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HISTORY OF DUNKLIN COUNTY, MO.
Cotton Plant until August 7, 1884, when he was married to Lou Abernathy, also a native of Dunklin County and the daughter of Robert Abernathy, an early settler of this county. After his marriage Mr. Langdon built a fine residence on one of the large mounds on his farm just south of Cotton Plant, and has since resided there, occasionally taking his family to their pleasant summer home in Arcadia, Mo. Mr. Langdon was in the mercantile business with T. R. Neel, under the firm name, at his father's old stand in Cotton Plant. He subsequently sold his interest and retired to his farm. He is a prominent farmer and stock-raiser, cattle being his favorite kind. He always keeps fine cows and plenty of other stock about his place. His farm is one of the most extensive and best improved in the county. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Langdon are: Edwin Neel (deceased ), Sallie May, Lela Blanch, Luella (deceased ), and Walton V. Mr. Langdon is a member of the I. O. O. F. and Masonic fraternities and he and wife are members of the M. E. C. S.
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