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 9
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HISTORY OF DUNKLIN COUNTY, MO.
Rev. MARTIN V. BAIRD was born June 7, 1837, at Lebanon, Wilson County, Tennessee, and is the son of Thomas and Mary Martin Baird. The parents removed to Gibson County, Tenn., when their son, M. V., was about thirteen years of age; here he finished his growth and obtained a good education in
REV. MARTIN V. BAIRD AND WIFE.
the common schools and in Bluff Springs Seminary at a time when that school was in a flourishing condition. He begun teaching at a very early age, and taught part of the year and attended school the remainder, continuing in this way for several years.
In 1860 he emigrated to Dunklin County, and located near Clarkton, where he has since resided, with the exception of one year, when he went back to Ten- nessee and taught a ten months' term of school pear
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Dire Station. He was offered the position as teacher at Rutherford the next year, but had concluded that he liked Dunklin County best, so he returned here. He was previously married, March 30, 1860, to Ollie B. Hopper, of Gibson County, Tennessee. To this union was born six children, all of whom died in infancy but Walter P. ( also deceased ) and Thomas J. (see sketch).
Mrs. Baird died April 7, 1890, having been the wife of Rev. Baird for over thirty years; she was a most excellent woman and beloved by all who knew her, and was for many years a consistent member of the Baptist Church.
June 1, 1891, Rev. Baird took for a second com- panion Mrs. Lilian M. Harvey, widow of Dr. Harvey (deceased), of Kennett, Mo. She was the daughter of Benjamin and Emma Iney Adams, natives of Vir- ginia.
Lilian M. Adams was first married in her native State, Georgia, to Dr. Joseph W. Harvey, on February 19, 1860, and they came to Kennett and located in May, 1861. Dr. Harvey was a pioneer physician of this county and well and favorably known. He was sergeant under Price in the late war, and was surren- dered at Pittsburg, Va. He died February 16, 1877. Dr. and Mrs. Harvey had eight children, three of whom are living, Sterling Price, Matilda G., and Dock.
Mrs. Harvey was married also to Dr. T. J. Rhodes, who died in 1881. Mamie L. is the child of this mar- riage. On her marriage to Rev. Baird, the couple
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HISTORY OF DUNKLIN COUNTY, MO.
took up their abode at the home of Rev. Baird, near Clarkton.
Considerable of the history of Rev. Baird, as minis- ter of the gospel, is given in the sketch on the Baptist churches elsewhere in this volume. Suffice it to say here that he is the oldest member of the "Black River Association," and the oldest minister in the county, not in years, but in point of ministerial work. He has at different times been pastor of all the old Baptist churches in the county, and he has presumably administered more baptisms than any other Baptist minister in the county. He is a man of impartial judgment, firm in his convictions and beliefs, yet withal liberal-minded. With most of the Baptist congregations he is a favorite, and he is looked upon as the best informed and extensively read minister of the Baptist denomination in the county.
THOMAS J. BAIRD, school commissioner of Dunklin County, was born December 25, 1866, and is the son of Rev. M. V. and Ollie B. Hopper-Baird ( see sketch elsewhere). Mr. Baird is a native of Dunklin county, and was reared on his father's farm near Clarkton, this county. On August 3, 1892, he was married to Lizzie A. Helm, a daughter of W. H. and Hulda Mott-Helm, of Kennett, Mo.
Mr. and Mrs. Baird have one little daughter, whom they call Kittie.
Mr. Baird was first appointed school commissioner of Dunklin County by Gov. Francis, in August, 1891, and has since then been twice re-elected without
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HISTORY OF DUNKLIN COUNTY, MO.
announcing or making a canvass for the office. He has the honor of holding the first normal diploma issued by the State Normal School at Cape Girardeau, Mo., to a student from Dunklin County. He led his class and graduated with high honors in 1890, and has for three successive years conducted the County Teachers Institute of this county.
T. J. BAIRD.
He taught his first school, after graduation, in Licking, Texas County, Mo. In 1894 he filled the position of principal of the public school at Kennett, at which place he owns a nice home. where he now resides.
Mr. Baird is looked upon as a leader by the educa- tional faculty of the county, and is held in high regard by the teachers, as an evidence of which they recently chose him president of the Dunklin County Teachers Association.
Mr. Baird owns a good farm near Clarkton, Mo., is
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HISTORY OF DUNKLIN COUNTY, MO.
a Democrat in politics, and is well and favorably known all over the county.
Mrs. Baird was, before her marriage, also a teacher, and was educated in Cape Girardeau, Mo. She is a lady of high attainments.
JAMES M. BAIRD, son of Robert and Margaret Baird, was born Feb. 7th, 1853, at Potosi, Washington County, Mo. He came to Dunklin County in Jan., 1878, and married Lucy Douglass, daughter of A. T. and Elizabeth Mott-Douglass, on June 16, 1880. They have two children, Hulah C., born May 16, 1884, and Hettie N., born Sept. 21st, 1891. Mr. Baird is a bricklayer by trade, but has been merchandising at Senath for several years. He and J. M. Douglass first opened a business at Senath under the firm name of J. M. Baird & Co., but in January, 1894, took W. R. Satterfield as a partner, and changed the style of the firm to its present name of Baird, Satterfield & Co.
This firm operates a mill and cotton gin ; buys all kinds of farm produce, and keeps a full and complete line of everything usually kept in a general store.
The post-office is kept in the store of the above mentioned firm, and J. M. Baird is postmaster. Mr. Baird is Democratic in politics and he and Mrs. Baird are both members of Missionary Baptist Church.
JUDGE T. E. BALDWIN, of the firm of T. E. Baldwin & Co., real estate, Kennett, Mo., was born October 23, 1849, in Cape Girardeau, Mo. His parents,
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HISTORY OF DUNKLIN COUNTY, MO.
Thomas and Elizabeth Lobdell-Baldwin, were natives respectively of Virginia and Louisiana. They were, however, early settlers of Scott County, Mo., where they were reared, educated and married. After their marriage they removed to Cape Girardeau, Mo., where they both died in the year 1859. Their son, T. E. Baldwin, came to Dunklin County in 1870, to take
JUDGE T. E. BALDWIN.
charge of a mercantile business at Clarkton for a firm in Cape Girardeau. He remained here one year, and was then elected clerk of the Clarkton Common Pleas and Probate Court ; he was re-elected and held the office until the court was abolished in 1875. In 1877, he was appointed to fill an unexpired term of Circuit and County Clerk; he was elected at the regular elec- tion in 1878 to the same office. In 1882 Mr. Baldwin was elected to the office of Probate Judge, and filled this position four years. In 1884 he was also elected
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HISTORY OF DUNKLIN COUNTY, MO.
County Treasurer, both terms of office expiring in 1886.
Judge Baldwin was married in 1872 at Clarkton, this county, to Miss Mary Pankey, daughter of Col. D. Y. Pankey, now of Kennett. Mrs. Baldwin is a native of Virginia, but reared and educated in Dunklin County.
The children of Judge and Mrs. Baldwin are Sallie (Mrs. L. P. Tatum), Edwin, Ernest, Paul, and Lilian.
Judge Baldwin has always shown great interest in school and church advancement in the county, and is exceptionally well posted in commercial and official affairs ; he has held many public and private trusts and has left a record which none can challenge. He is a member of the Masonic and I. O. O. F. Lodges, and he and Mrs. Baldwin are both members of the Presbyterian Church.
Just now Judge Baldwin is in the real estate busi- ness, and within the past year has added a nice addition to the town-plat of Kennett.
WILLIAM G. BRAGG, of the firm of T. E. Baldwin & Co., real estate dealers, Kennett, Mo., was born Sep- tember 21st, 1852, in Knox County, Tennessee. He is the son of Capt. William G. and Frances Tully- Bragg, natives of Kentucky. The parents came to Knox County about 1827, where the father engaged in merchandising until 1865, when he came to Dun klin County, locating at Kennett, and there died in 1888. He was a Republican in politics, and filled the
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HISTORY OF DUNKLIN COUNTY, MO.
office of Circuit Clerk in this county just after the Civil War, and was also deputy for some years. W. G. Bragg, Jr., came with his parents to this county and received a common school education. He began clerking when quite young, and on reaching manhood began business under the firm title of Tatum & Bragg. He has since been engaged in the mercantile business
W. G. BRAGG.
under different firm names. In 1878 he was elected to the position of Clerk and in 1882 re-elected, filling the position for six years. A few years ago Mr. Bragg went to Washington and spent about two years there, but returned to Dunklin County and again located in Kennett, where he is at present in the real estate bus- iness. In 1877 he was united in marriage to Kittie Chapman, daughter of Turnier and Hulda Mott-Chap- man. Mr. and Mrs. Bragg are members of the Christian Church, and Mr. Bragg of the Masonic fraternity,
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HISTORY OF DUNKLIN COUNTY, MO.
C. D. BRAY, son of E. M. and N. M. Owen-Bray, was born January 20, 1874. Mrs. N. M. Owen-Bray is a daughter of Dr. Given Owen, and a native of this State, and now resides on the Bray "Old Farm," near Campbell. Mr. E. M. Bray was a native of Tennessee, and came to Dunklin County in 1858, and married Miss N. M. Owen in 1867.
CYRUS D. BRAY.
Their children were five in number: Rhoda T., Cyrus D., Mary E., Adrian O., and Elija Monro. Mr. Bray died in 1884, and, since his death, Cyrus D., the subject of this sketch, has done much toward the support of the family. He is assistant postmaster and druggist in the well-known Mccutchen pharma- cy, and is polite, efficient and fast climbing up the ladder of honorable prosperity. He is Democratic in politics, and his parents were members of the Baptist Church, and his father was a Mason. Mr. Bray is the young man whom a couple of burglars coolly tied to
11
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HISTORY OF DUNKLIN COUNTY, MO.
his bedpost in the winter of 1894, while they robbed his pockets, the Mccutchen safe, etc. He says they were in his room when he awoke; they gave him a whiff of chloroform and told him to keep quiet ; he complied and they were quite polite in their treatment of him, being careful not to wrap the cords painfully tight around his limbs. He soon released himself but the burglars had made good their escape.
NATHANIEL BAKER and JOE PELTZ are two of the pioneers of this county yet living, who have enjoyed many buffalo hunts and elk drives together in what is now Dunklin County, but which was, when they were lads, an exceedingly fine hunting-ground, actually and truly flowing with wild meat, wild fruit and wild honey. They lived here when swan were so plentiful that they would not waste ammunition killing geese, thinking them too small, when wild cattle, bear, wolves and fur-bearing creatures were as plentiful as is now the rabbit, squirrel and opossum. The geese, ducks, swan, etc., had to be watched out of the corn patches like swarms of blackbirds.
" Uncle Nathaniel," came to Dunklin County with his father, James Baker, in 1833. They first settled on Buffalo Island, and were the second family to locate there. They removed to Grand Prairie in 1842, and settled on the place where Mr. N. Baker now resides. He soon married a daughter of Hugh Shipley, and their pioneer home is yet preserved almost as first built.
Mr. Baker is a Democrat in politics, and both he
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HISTORY OF DUNKLIN COUNTY, MO.
and wife are members of the Old Liberty class of M. E. C. S.
Mr. Peltz came to Dunklin County a little later than Mr. Baker, and there were but about ten white families in the south end of the county when he arrived here. " Uncle Joe " is yet a great hunter, a staunch Demo- crat, and a member of the Missionary Baptist Church. These pioneers have lived to see the " Buffalo Wallows " and " Elk Stamping Grounds " turned into cotton and cornfields; the Indian wigwams replaced by modern buildings; the poky old pack-horse and two-wheeled ox cart outstripped by the " wheeled- horse " and steam engine ; the old-fashioned summer barbecues rounded up into an annual Fair lasting sev- eral days. In short, what was 62 years ago, when they first saw it, an Indian hunting-ground, has been given the name of Dunklin County, and peopled by 20,000 busy and progressive Americans.
Rev. J. M. BLAYLOCK was born Oct. 28, 1846, in North Carolina. His parents, Mariet and Martha Swarengin-Blaylock, were natives of North Carolina. They emigrated to East Tennessee on French Broad River in 1859, and in 1865 came to West Tennessee. August 12, 1866, J. M. Blaylock, who had been long a wanderer from his father's house, started home, and on arrival found that his father had died on the same day and about the same hour that he had started for home. February 5, 1867, he was married to Miss M. M. Rowe, a native of Tennessee. Six children have been born to this union, the eldest dying in infancy ;
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HISTORY OF DUNKLIN COUNTY, MO.
the others are, W. M., Mettie L., Mittie Bell, John M., and L. C. Rev. Blaylock says he was converted on a Methodist camp-ground at Manley Chapel, under the preaching of Rev. John Peoples, in 1869, united with the Missionary Baptist Church at Bear Creek, Carroll County, Tennessee. Was ordained a deacon shortly after, and was ordained to the ministry by Union Hill Church in 1884.
In the same year he came to Dunklin County and located near Valley Ridge. The first year he was pastor of Old Four Mile Baptist Church, doing mis- sionary work the third year, and before and since that time he has been pastor of a number of churches. In 1889 he removed to Caruth, this county, but now resides near Shady Grove, one of thechurches of which he pastorates. He is recognized as a forcible and impressive speaker.
MAJ. HENRY H. BEDFORD, attorney at law, Bloom- field, Mo., was born November 27, 1823, in Jackson County, Tenn. He is the son of J. M. and Elizabeth Hale-Bedford, natives of North Carolina and Ten- nessee respectively. The father was born in 1799. The son, H. H., is a citizen of Stoddard and not of Dunklin County, Mo., but has been identified with both counties for over half a century. He attended the first Circuit Court ever held in Dunklin County, and has attended every other regular term held in this county but three. No other personage is so constantly seen in the courts of this county as Maj. H. H. Bed- ford. He was one of its first attorneys and came all
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HISTORY OF DUNKLIN COUNTY, MO.
the way from Bloomfield, Stoddard County, to Horners- ville, Dunklin County, on horseback for his first wife, whom he married in 1847, and who was a daughter of Frank Lee, one of the very earliest pioneers of this county. After her death he was again married in 1852 to Mrs. Minerva Handy. The children of this marriage living are: Orlando, Ida V., Ethel, Arthur C., and May. In 1861 he enlisted in Capt. Hale's Company of Cavalry, and when the regiment was organized at Belmont he was elected major, in which capacity he served for about a year, when he was taken ill with pneumonia ; his regiment returning home he never again resumed command. He participated in several hard skirmishes during his service and bore himself like a brave and gallant soldier. In 1857 and 1858 he represented Stoddard County in the Legisla- ture, and for fifty years has been prominently connected with the public affairs of that county and Dunklin.
He is a large landholder in both counties and knows as much, perhaps more, of the early history of these two counties than any other man living. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and is held in high regard by legal and official circles in Dunklin County.
D. T. BOYD, M. D., of Campbell, was born in Collin County, Texas, March 5, 1870. Attended school at Mckinney, Texas, two years, and afterward at Farmer- ville, Texas. Taught in the public schools of that State for a while, but commenced the study of medicine in the spring of 1890. Entered the medical college at Nashville, Tenn., in the fall of 1890, and graduated
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HISTORY OF DUNKLIN COUNTY, MO.
from the University of Nashville and Vanderbilt Uni- versity in the spring of 1892. He came to Dunklin County in March of the same year and located at Campbell, and is now the leading young physician of that place. Married Miss Lula Taylor of Bonham, Texas, in August, 1893. Was made a Mason in
DR. D. T. BOYD.
August, 1892, and has been a member of the Cum- berland Presbyterian Church since 1889.
The parents of Dr. Boyd were M. M. and Mary J. Walker Boyd, both natives of Henry County, Tenn.
T. C. BUFORD, merchant, Malden, Missouri, was born in Oford, Mississippi. He is the son of H. A. and S. L. Gill-Buford. His father was a native of Murray County, Tennessee, and his mother of Rock Hill, South Carolina. They emigrated to Mississippi, and here their third son, T. C., was reared and edu- cated. He is well educated and follows the profession
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HISTORY OF DUNKLIN COUNTY, MO.
of bookkeeper. He came to Dunklin County in May, 1895, and is now the proprietor of the Buford establishment, in Malden, on the corner of Main and Madison streets. He has a new and well-selected line of general merchandise and is doing a thriving bus- iness. He is a young man of intelligence and noted for his liberality, and is always ready to help along any enterprise to forward the progress of his adopted county.
Dunklin County will always be glad to welcome more such citizens. He is Democratic in politics.
DR. VAN H. BOND.
VAN H. BOND, M. D., Ph. G., of Cotton Plant, was born in Shelby County, Tenn. (near Memphis), December 8th, 1869. His parents, R. T. and Bettie P. Bond, were born and educated in West Tennessee, and are now residing near Union City. They removed to Obine County in 1870, in which county Van H. Bond,
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HISTORY OF DUNKLIN COUNTY, MO.
the subject of this sketch, attended the public schools until November 2, 1888, when he came to Clarkton, Dunklin County, and commenced the study of phar- macy with his uncle, Dr. V. H. Harrison, afterward taking two courses of lectures in the National Institute of Pharmacy, from which he received the degree of Ph. G., standing first in his class. He then commenced the study of medicine with the same preceptors, and in the fall of 1890, entered the " Missouri Medical College," at St. Louis, Mo., taking three regular courses of lectures, and receiving the degree of M. D., the 27th of March, 1893. He then returned to his present place of residence, where he has, by close attention to professional duties, not having refused to answer a single call for two years, built up a large and fairly lucrative practice.
REV. J. L. BATTEN, pastor in charge of the Meth- odist Church, Kennett, Mo., is the son of John and Emily Rogers-Batten, natives of North Carolina and Tennessee, respectively. The elder Mr. Batten had delicate health and he and his wife traveled consid- erable, and their son, J. L., the subject of this sketch, was born in Pike County, Mo., November 30, 1848. He grew to manhood and was educated in the common schools of Tennessee, and was married on October 31, 1867, to Mary J. Nicholas, a native of Hickman County, Kentucky. They have one child, Grace, born June 7, 1883. On reaching years of maturity Rev. Batten united with the M. E. C. S., and traveled one year as a " supply," when he joined the St. Louis Conference,
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HISTORY OF DUNKLIN COUNTY, MO.
October 9, 1876. Clarkton Circuit, Dunklin County, was the first circuit to which he was sent. This circuit then embraced the north half of Dunklin and south part of Stoddard County, Mo., and had fourteen appointments, to which he gave one sermon each month and often more. He was made presiding elder of Poplar Bluff District in 1885. He served this district
REV. J. L. BATTEN.
three years and Salem District two years, after which time he again went back to the pastorate.
He was stationed at Malden and Kennett in 1894, and at Kennett in 1895. In fact for seven years of his ministerial life he has been connected with the pastorate in this county and has been well known here for twenty years.
Perhaps no minister now belonging to the St. Louis Conference, or Poplar Bluff District, has done so much to advance the cause of Christianity in Dunklin
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HISTORY OF DUNKLIN COUNTY, MO.
County as has Rev. J. L. Batten. To say that the M. E. C. S. in this county recognizes him as one of its most powerful and eloquent ministers, that he is well-beloved by its members and highly esteemed by all, is but voicing public sentiment.
J. B. BLAKEMORE.
J. B. BLAKEMORE, Circuit Clerk of Dunklin County, was born March 1, 1857. He is a native of Ten- nessee, and his parents, James H. and Mary E. Adams-Blakemore, were also natives of that State.
The subject of this sketch married Miss Belle Val- entine of Mckinsey, Tennessee, in November, 1882. She died January, 1885, leaving one son, James Willie. Mr. Blakemore came to Dunklin County in 1886, and in November, 1887, married Miss Alice Hughes of Halcomb, this county, also a native of Tennessee. In 1888 he was appointed to fill an
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HISTORY OF DUNKLIN COUNTY, MO.
unexpired term as Circuit Clerk, and elected to that office in 1890; and re-elected in 1894 by the largest majority of any candidate in the county having an opponent. He is Democratic in politics.
Rev. S. C. BIFFLE, late pastor of Grand Prairie Circuit, M. E. C. S., in Dunklin County, was born December 24, 1848, in Wayne County, Tennessee. His parents, Johnson L. and Mary Ann Hill-Biffle, were born and reared in Tennessee, but removed to Missouri, locating in Bollinger County, when the sub- ject of this sketch was but eight years of age. Here he grew to manhood, working on a farm and attend- ing the country schools a few weeks each winter. When a young man he also attended the Bellview Collegiate Institute a part of two years, and followed teaching for three years. In 1866 he united with the M. E. C. S. and was licensed to preach by the Fourth Quarterly Conference of the Marble Hill Circuit in 1873. In 1874, he was employed by D. J. Marquis, Presiding Elder of the Charleston District, to take charge of the Gayoso Circuit, Pemiscot County, Missouri.
October 15, 1874, he was admitted on trial in the St. Louis Conference, M. E. C. S., and was appointed to the Houston Circuit. Two years later he was received into full connection and has filled the following pastoral charges : Greenville Circuit, 1875 to 1878 ; Oak Ridge Circuit, 1878 to 1879 ; Poplar Bluff Circuit, 1879 to 1880 ; Marquand Circuit, 1880 to 1881; Houston Cir- cuit, 1881 to 1883 ; Farmington Circuit, 1883 to 1887;
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HISTORY OF DUNKLIN COUNTY, MO.
Lutesville Circuit, 1887 to 1890 ; Doniphan Circuit, 1890 to 1892; Grand Prairie Circuit, 1892 to 1895.
His labors as a minister have resulted in good to a great many ; during his pastorate in Dunklin County more than three hundred persons were added to the Methodist Church. He was a prominent factor in the successful religious movement that has been going on in the south end of Dunklin County for the past three years.
November 3, 1874, Rev. Biffle was united in mar- riage to Miss Annie Allbright of Madison County, Mo., who has since this time shared the toils, trials and joys of an itinerant's life. To this union have been born three children, Atticus L., Mary C. and Sebastian C.
JOSEPH I. CANEER, merchant at Senath, Missouri, was born February 13, 1859, in Gibson County, Ten- nessee. His parents, W. T. and Sarah Karns-Caneer, were both natives of Tennessee. Their son, Joseph I., grew to manhood in his native State, receiving a fair education in the common schools of the same. He came to Dunklin County and located at Senath, July 4, 1886, opening a general mercantile business in September following. He started in business alone and with but little means, and from this has gained an extensive business and trade. He keeps a well- chosen, new and complete line of general merchan- dise. July 19, 1894, he was united in marriage to Mrs. Willie Buie. They have one son, whom they call Melvin. Mr. Caneer is Republican in politics and is a first-class all-round business man.
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HISTORY OF DUNKLIN COUNTY, MO.
EDGAR PREWITT CARUTHERS, editor of the " Dun- klin Democrat," the leading paper of Dunklin County, was born in Cook Settlement, St. Francois County, Missouri, October 27, 1854. His father was Solomon D. Caruthers, for many years County Clerk and Pro-
E. P. CARUTHERS, Editor Dunklin Democrat.
bate Judge of Madison County. His mother was Mary Jane Harris, daughter of S. P. Harris, an early Southeast settler. The subject of this sketch entered a printing office, that of the " Fredericktown Con- servative," and there commenced his trade in 1865. He later published the " Bee " at the same place, and
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