USA > Missouri > Harrison County > History of Harrison County, Missouri > Part 45
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Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Ragland were the parents of the following children : Mrs. Hendren ; Bert, of Nortonville, Kansas; Omar of Highland,
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Kansas; Sylvia, the wife of William Cowhick of Boone, Iowa; and Alva of Lancaster, Kansas.
Dr. and Mrs. Hendren are the parents of two children: Bertha I., a student in Bethany High School; and Kenneth. a junior in the High School.
Dr. Hendren is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Lodge of Bethany and has an extensive acquaintance throughout the county.
William A. Baldwin, a widely known educator of the county, but who is now engaged in the coal business in Bethany, was born in Denton County, Texas May 2, 1865, the son of Edward and Susan (Glendenning) Baldwin. Edward Baldwin went to Texas from Missouri and Michigan prior to the Civil War and enlisted in the Confederate Army and served until the war closed. He was shot in the right leg in Louisiana, and was incapacitated for a short time, but upon recovery, went back with his company. After the war closed, he settled in Bates County, Missouri, but in 1868, came to Harrison County and located in Dallas Township, where he died Decem- ber 15, 1895, and is buried in Kidwell Cemetery. His wife is living with her daughter Mrs. W. R. Thompson near Martinsvlle, and Mrs. Jonathan Vanhoozer of Albany. She is eighty-two years of age.
Mr. and Mrs. Edward Baldwin were the parents of the following chil- dren : Emma, the wife of J. L. Roundtree, deceased ; Ellis of New Hampton, Missouri, deceased; Edward, who died at the age of six years; Eugene, a blacksmith of Shenandoah, Iowa; W. A., the subject of this sketch; Ezra, who died at the age of five years; Flora, the wife of W. R. Thompson of Dallis Township; Nellie, the wife of Jonathan Van Hoozer of Albany, Mis- souri; Charles, the superintendent of schools at Neosho, Missouri; and Ethel, who died at the age of thirty-five years.
William A. Baldwin was educated in Dallas Township, and for twenty- five years, taught school in Harrison and Gentry counties, and one year at Lyons County, Kansas. His first school was at Danford School in 1883, and his last school was at Blue Ridge, Missouri in 1919, and he is teach- ing there this year, 1922. Mr. Baldwin moved to Bethany in April, 1916 and since then, he has dealt in coal here and has built up a good business.
William A. Baldwin was married April 8, 1891, to Emma Taggart, a daughter of John and Matilda Taggart, both deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Taggart were married in Indiana and came to Harrison County before the Civil War. He was a captain of the Home Guards, stationed at St. Joseph,
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Missouri. Mr. Taggart was a native of Ireland, and came to America when four years of age, with his parents. He died in August, 1913 and his wife died in October, 1911; both are buried at Antioch Cemetery.
Mr. and Mrs. Taggart were the parents of the following children : Nancy Ann, the wife of Josiah Bogue of Gilman, Missouri; John and James, both of whom died in infancy; Wiley P., deceased; Madora Ellen. the widow of Robert Mayhrigh of Bethany, Missouri ; W. W. of Sherman Town- ship; Bessie, the wife of James Welden, deceased; Mrs. Baldwin; Charles Mansur of Adams Township; and Nona B., deceased. John Taggart was a farmer and for eight years was a state senator, having been elected on the Democratic ticket. He was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows for sixty-three years.
Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin have three children; Blanche, the widow of George Rouzer of Bethany; Edith, the wife of Benjamin Hill, a merchant at Blue Ridge, Missouri, and Evah, a student in the Bethany High School.
Blanche Rouzer was educated in the Gilman City schools, and was graduated from the high schools at that place in 1910, and is also a gradu- ate of the Central Business College at Bethany. Her husband, George Rouzer, who was born in Kansas City, Missouri, died November 21, 1918 at Hog Island, while he was with the United States shipyard, as a ship builder. Mrs. Rouzer is at present employed by the Bethany Trust Com- pany in the abstract department. Edith the wife of Benjamin Hill. Gradu- ated in the Gilman High School and taught four years. She was teaching in Gilman when married.
The Baldwin family have always been progressive, public spirited, and citizens of real worth.
Alexander Murray, a member of the firm of Ebersole Brothers and Company at Albany, Missouri, is well known in Harrison County where he was born, grew up, and engaged in farming for many years.
Mr. Murray was born in Harrison County, September 29, 1878, the son of W. G. and Janet (Griffen) Murray. They were both born in Glas- gow, Scotland, where they were also married. They came to the United States in 1873 and settled on a farm in this county where they lived until recently when they sold the first place and purchased a ten acre tract of land near Bethany where they now live. To their union the following children were born: Walter, living at Bethany; Lizzie, now Mrs. Eckard of Hatfield; Jessie, a teacher in Kansas City, Missouri; Alexander, the subject of this sketch; William, living at Bethany; Christina, now Mrs.
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Morris of Bethany; Agnes, living at home; John, a resident of Bethany , Alexina, deceased, was Mrs. Morris; Andrew, living at Bethany ; and Jean- nie, now Mrs. Miles of New Hampton.
Alexander Murray attended the White Cloud rural school. He farmed on a tract of land north of New Hampton with marked success until October, 1919 when he sold this farm and moved to Ridgeway where he lived for six months. He then bought a half interest in the Ebersøle Mill at Albany with P. R. Ebersole as the other owner. Previously to buy- ing an interest in the mill, Mr. Murray sold a small tract of land adjoining Ridgeway which he had taken in the trade of his farm. The disposal of this land left Mr. Murray free to devote all of his time to the work in the will. This mill is equipped with machinery for grinding and chopping; and the firm handles flour, feed and farm seeds as well as buying and shipping grain. The mill is a successful business venture and has been well managed by the owners.
Alexander Murray was married August 10, 1904 to Evah Ebersole, a daughter of C. and Eliza Ebersole of New Hampton. Mrs. Ebersole is deceased, and Mr. Ebersole is living at New Hampton. To the union of Alexander and Evah (Ebersole) Murray two children have been born: Gordon, now a junior in the Albany High School; and Jenet Evelyn.
Mr. Murray is favorably known throughout Harrison County as a man of enterprise and ability. In Albany also, he is esteemed as a pro- gressive business man.
Dr. Felix G. Smith a well known physician of Bethany, is a member of a prominent pioneer family of the county. The Smith family has been known in Harrison County since the first half of the nineteenth century, and the men of the family have been prominent in political affairs of the county and the state for many years.
Hercules Smith, deceased, the father of Dr. Felix G. Smith, was born near Elizabethtown, Hardin County, Kentucky, in 1821, and came to Scotland County, Missouri, in 1848. His father, David G. Smith, came from the same county in Kentucky to Missouri in 1850 and joined his son, Her- cules, in a land venture in Scotland County. They entered a large tract of land, and were successful operators of these large farms all their lives. At his death in 1898 in Scotland County, Hercules Smith held more than 500 acres of land near Memphis, Missouri. Hercules Smith was married to Mary Ellen Leeman of Hardin County, Kentucky, who died in 1891. Her remains are buried in the Baptist Church Cemetery in Miller Township,
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and the remains of her husband are buried in the Cumberland Presbyterian Cemetery. To their union the following children were born: Matilda, the wife of John L. Drake of Lancaster, Missouri; Elizabeth, died at the age of twenty-one years; Mollie, wife of E. M. Giles of Ridgeway, Missouri; Thomas J., a graduate of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Keokuk, Iowa, and of the Ensworth Medical College at St. Joseph, and now located in Long Beach, California; Sarah Eliza, wife of James Colvin of Mary- ville, Missouri; Felix G., the subject of this sketch; Nancy, wife of Shad- rach Bridges of Decatur, Illinois; W. L., formerly in the drug business at Maysville, then at McFall, and now in the same business at Albany, Mis- souri; America, married to Ambrose Dunagan, a druggist of Ridgeway, Missouri ; John Chilton, mention of whom appears later in this review; and Charlotte, the widow of Richard Watkins of Alliance, Nebraska.
Dr. John Chilton Smith is a graduate of the Ensworth Medical College of St. Joseph and is a registered pharmacist by examination. He clerked for a brother in Grant City for a few years, but since 1885 he has owned and conducted a drug store on the west side of the square at Albany. Here he keeps a full line of drugs and does a good business. He does office practice in connection with his work in the store. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias Lodge and of the Redmen.
Felix G. Smith, the subject of this sketch, is a graduate of the Ens- worth Medical College at St. Joseph. He is a man of varied and interest- ing experiences. He began to teach school in 1872, and taught his last school in Worth County in 1879. He then entered the drug business at Denver, Missouri, where he remained one year. He then went into the drug business at Grant City, remained there three years, and entered the same business at Albany, where he remaind another three years. For the past thirty-three years he has lived in Bethany, and until nine years ago, he conducted a drug business there in connection with which he did office practice much of the time; the past nine years he had spent in California.
Dr. Smith owns one of the good business buildings of Bethany, and is proud of his town and county.
The Smith family was accustomed to holding family reunions each year for several years prior to the death of the mother. There are ten of the family still living, the youngest being past sixty-two years of age and the oldest more than seventy-seven years old. They are a long-lived family. The great-grandfather, James Smith, of Hardin County, Ken- tucky, lived to be 107 years of age.
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The Smiths have always been prominent Democrats, all four of the Smith brothers having taken active parts in democratic party politics in northwest Missouri. In the Congressional Convention held at Plattsburg, Missouri, three of the brothers were present and each supported a different candidate. Dr. Felix G. Smith was allied with the supporters of T. A. Dunn, a banker of Bethany; Dr. J. C. Smith was equally ardent in his support of Ed Ayleshire of Stanberry; and Dr. T. J. Smith upheld the cause of "Toot" Hudson of Grant City. Each of the brothers stood by his candidate until the question was settled by the nomination of John Daugherty. At the Democratic State Convention at Sedalia in 1892, Dr. Felix G. Smith was elected an alternate to the Democratic National Con- vention at Chicago which nominated Grover Cleveland for the presidency. The Doctor has entertained several prominent democrats at his home in Bethany. Among these were W. J. Bryan, Senator William J. Stone, R. P. Hobson, Gov. A. M. Dockery and many of the pleading politicians of the state.
Doctor Smith was appointed to the office of county collector of revenues by Governor Folk in 1906 and served for a year in that capacity. He also served as United States pension examiner during the first term of Grover Cleveland's administration. His brother, Dr. T. J. Smith, served on the same board at Grant City at the special request of the old soldiers of Worth County. Dr. F. G. Smith is a member of the Masonic order and of the Knights of Pythias. He served as chancellor commander of the Knights of Pythias for two years and was very efficient in his work. Families such as that founded by Hercules Smith have been influential in moulding the destiny of the county and the state. It is particularly fitting that in a volume of this character due honor be given to such men.
John Barber, of Eagleville, has been prominently identified with Harrison County for many years, and is a member of one of the very early pioneer families of this section of the state. He was born in Lick- ing County, Ohio. December 25, 1842, a son of Aquilla C. and Ellen (Kerr) Barber.
Aquilla C. Barber was born in Washington D. C., and was a soldier in the War of 1812. He saw Lafayette, when that distinguished soldier visited Washington, D. C. Aquilla Barber was a son of Bernard Barber, who was a native of Washington D. C. and served in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. He was of Scotch descent and spent his life in Washington D. C.
JOHN BARBER
MRS. JOHN BARBER
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Aquilla Barber moved to Ohio in an early day and while living in that state, he followed farming and was also interested in boating and teaming. He hauled salt across the Alleghany Mountains to Washing- ton, D. C., and Baltimore. In 1885 he came to Missouri with his family and settled in Harrison County northeast of Eagleville. He pre-empted some land, homesteaded some and bought some. He engaged in farming and also conducted a store at Eagleville for a number of years and was engaged in business here at the time of his death, January 20, 1864, at the age of seventy-five years. Ellen (Kerr) Barber was a native of Pennsylvania and of Irish descent. She died at Eaglesville in 1887, at the age of eighty-one years, and she and her husband are buried in what is known as the West Cemetery, at Eagleville. They were the parents of the following, who grew to maturity: Elizabeth, deceased; Andrew, Kansas City, Missouri; John, the subject of this sketch; Justus, died in the Union Army during the Civil War; Martha, married Samuel V. McHenry, who is now deceased, and she lives at Hiawatha, Kansas: and Wheeler, Sprott, Missouri.
John Barber was about thirteen years old when the family came to Missouri, in 1855. They drove through from Ohio to Harrison County with two teams and brought with them a buggy which was the first vehicle of the kind in this section of Missouri. Mr. Barber recalls that when he was a boy and drove his mother to church that the other boys would make fun of him for riding in a buggy. Everybody in those days drove to church with ox-teams and heavy wagons.
John Barber attended the early day subscription school, and was living on the home farm with his parents when the Civil War broke out. He enlisted at Bethany, August 3, 1861, and he and his brother Andrew and John Hagerty, were the first soldiers to be sworn in as members of "Merrill's Horse." This organization later became the 2nd Regiment, Mis- souri Cavalry. Mr. Barber took part in a number of engagements with his regiment and after a term of service was discharged on account of disability. As soon as he regained his health he enlisted in Company E, 16th Kansas Cavalry. He served with that command until the close of the war and then went on an expedition with his regiment against hostile Indians in the West. He was first sergeant of his company and the officer in command while on this expedition in Wyoming and other
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sections of the West. He was discharged from the service at Fort Lea- venworth, Kansas, December 6, 1865.
After his discharge from the army, Mr. Barber returned to Eagle- ville and engaged in farming and stock raising. He was one of the first successful Shorthorn Stock raisers in this section. He also raised Norman horses and Poland China hogs. His farm is located in Colfax Town- ship, two miles from Eagleville, and consists of 220 acres of valuable land. He was successfully engaged in farming here until 1900, and still owns his home place.
In 1900 Mr. Barber assisted in organizing the Citizens Bank og Eagle- ville, becoming its first cashier and served in that capacity until 1908. This bank was organized with a capital stock of $10,000. George A. Powell who was the first president still holds that position. G. D. Cramer has been vice-president since the bank was organized. J. C. Barber succeeded his father as cashier in 1908, and served in that capacity until November 1919, and since that time J. C. Thompson has been cashier of the bank. The bank owns its own building which is a substantial brick structure and the furniture and fixtures are modern and con- veniently arranged for the banking business. Mr. Barber is still interested in the bank and is one of the heaviest stock holders, he and Mrs. Barber owning $10,500 worth of the bank's stock. This is one of the substantial banking institutions of Harrison County and has had a successful career.
Mr. Barber is now and has been for years extensively engaged in the private loan business. He has perhaps handled more estates as administrator and executor than any other man in Harrison County.
Mr. Barber was first married in 1862, to Elizabeth J. Poynter, and two children were born to that marriage, Mrs. Ella Oaks, of Colfax Township, and George W., who died in infancy. Mr. Barber's first wife died on June 29, 1868, and March 2, 1870, he was married to Martha S. Poynter, a sister of his first wife. She was born near Eagleville, September 29, 1851, a daughter of Thomas H. and Susan A. (Jenks) Poynter, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Ohio. They came here when young with their respective parents.
Thomas H. Poynter was a son of John Poynter, who came from Kentucky to Harrison County with his family in 1840. He was a slave owner in Kentucky and after coming to Harrison County he homesteaded government land near Eagleville and spent the remainder of his life here. He died in 1865, and his wife died in 1863, and they are buried in
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the Masonic Cemetery at Eagleville. Susan A. Jenks was born in Ohio, a daughter of Ichabod Jenks, who came from Ohio to Missouri with his family in 1841 and first settled at Chillicothe. In 1842 they came to Harrison County and took up government land in the vicinity of Eagleville.
Thomas H. Poynter, was engaged in farming for a number of years and in 1855 he engaged in the mercantile business at Eagleville and was in business there for a number of years. He was postmaster at Eagle- ville during the Civil War and for some years afterward. He died in 1878, at the age of fifty-three years. His widow survived him for a number of years and died in 1918, at the age of ninty-years. Their remains are buried in the Masonic Cemetery at Eagleville. They were the parents of ten children of whom Mrs. Barber and Thomas M. Poynter of Atchison, Kansas are the only ones living.
To John Barber and wife have been born two children: Grace M., married Amos Smith, Santa Jose, California; and J. C., who is engaged in the loan business at Eagleville, married Chloe Robertson, daughter of Dr. C. H. Robertson of Eagleville.
Mr. Barber has been a life long Republican and has always taken an active part in public affairs. He served as township clerk and assessor for ten years and in 1890, was elected judge of the county court and re- elected to that office at the expiration of his first term, serving two terms. He is a member of Masonic Lodge No. 257, Eagleville, having been made a mason in 1873, and has served as master of that lodge for ten years. He and Mrs. Barber are members of the Christian Church. Mr. Barber is one of Harrison Counties most highly respected and substantial citizens and he and Mrs. Barber stand high in the community.
Virgil Emerson Yates was born in Flag Springs, Andrew County, Missouri, October 5, 1878, and is the son of John Leslie Yates, deceased, and Mattie (Emerson) Yates, both native Kentuckians.
John Leslie Yates was the son of Weeden Smith Yates and Ermin Ella (Roberts) Yates, of Barren County, Kentucky. Weeden Smith Yates was a descendant of Capt. John Strother, of Culpeper County, Virginia, who served in the French and Indian wars, and who served on the Com- mittee of Safety, Culpeper, Virginia. He was also one of the thirteen
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justices of the peace of Culpeper to sign protest against Stamp Act prior to the Boston Tea Party.
Mattie Emerson Yates was the daughter of Thomas Franklin Emer- son and Lucy Margaret (Simpson) Emerson, of Wayne County, Kentucky. Thomas F. Emerson was the son of Col. Walter Emerson, a very prom- inent man of Wayne County, Kentucky, and who was a member of the Kentucky legislature, contemporary with Henry Clay.
Virgil Emerson Yates moved, when a boy, with his parents to King City, Missouri, and attended the school at that place, where he was graduated from the high school in 1895. Entered Gem City Business College at Quincy, Ill., in 1896 and was graduated in 1897.
In 1892 he started the printer's trade. He worked in King City. Pattonsburg and Union Star during vacations and until 1898. He came to Bethany March 28th. He was employed on the Democrat with John A. and William T. Templeman. He went to St. Joseph in 1905 and was with the Combe Printing Company in capacity of assistant foreman and stock man for three years. Returned to Bethany in spring of 1909; he was made manager of the Bethany Printing Company and Bethany Re- publican on March 15, 1909. Later he became a member of the board of directors, secretary and treasurer of the company.
Mr. Yates was married June 19, 1902, to Marian L. Templeman. daughter of William A. and Emeline (Allen) Templeman. Three sons were born, Leslie Allen, deceased, William Emerson and Virgil Templeman.
He is a member of Mahaska Lodge No. 205, Knights of Pythias, Miriam Lodge No. 129, I. O. O. F., Bethany Encampment No. 35, I. O. O. F., Oak Camp No. 37, W. O. W. He has passed through the chairs in I. O. O. F. orders. He was elected chairman of Harrison County Chapter American Red Cross at its organization in 1917 and still chairman.
G. C. Zingerle, the well known manager of the Miner and Free Lum- ber Company, at Bethany, Missouri, is a native of Ohio. He was born in Cincinnati, a son of Christopher and Rose (Brenner) Zingerle, the former a native of France and the latter of Germany and both now deceased. They spent their lives in Cincinnati, Ohio and died there.
G. C. Zingerle was reared and educated in Cincinnati and when seven- teen years old began life as a telegraph operator with the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. He remained with that company for six years, becoming
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chief train dispatcher at Indianapolis, Indiana, on the Indianapolis-Chi- cago division and later went to Cincinnati. In 1897, he came to Trenton, Missouri, as train dispatcher for the Chicago-Rock Island and Pacific. In 1914 he entered the employ of the Miner and Frees Lumber Company and worked in their yard at Blythedale, Missouri. In 1917, he was made man- ager of the company's yards at Bethany and has held that position until the present time.
Mr. Zingerle was married in September, 1909, to Miss Shirley Miner, a daughter of E. S. Miner of Bethany. They have one child, Elizabetlı.
Mr. Zingerle is a Knights Templar Mason and belongs to the Knights of Pythias Lodge. He has been president of the Bethany Chamber of Commerce since December, 1920.
E. Newton Carter, the well known county superintendent of schools of Harrison County is recognized as one of the capable and efficient public officers of this county. He was born in Sherman Township, Harrison County, October 31, 1892, a son of T. C. and Charlotte (Fergus) Carter.
The Carter family is one of the pioneer families of Harrison County. T. C. Carter was a son of Thomas Carter who was one of the first settlers in the south part of the county. T. C. Carter was born in Cypress Town- ship, May 12, 1852 and was successfully engaged in farming and stock raising in this county for a number of years. He died in February, 1919. His remains are buried in Dale Cemetery. His widow now resides with her daughter, Mrs. Laura Decker, in Bethany Township.
To T. C. Carter and wife were born the following children: Mrs. Laura Decker, Bethany Township; Mrs. Myrtle Morris, Bethany Town- ship; F. S., who has served in the United States Navy for the past sixteen years and is now connected with that branch of service, lives at Charles- ton, Massachusetts; and E. Newton, the subject of this sketch.
E. Newton Carter received his preliminary education in the district schools and the Bethany High School from which he graduated in the class of 1915. He then attended the State Teachers College at Mary- ville, Missouri, and the University of Missouri. He also taught school at intervals during the course of his educational career and was engaged in teaching when the United States entered the World War.
Mr. Carter entered the United States army July 24, 1918 and was sent to Camp Funston for training where he was assigned to the Medical
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