USA > Missouri > Henry County > History of Henry County, Missouri > Part 25
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Dr. William M. Marseilles, a prominent osteopath of Clinton, Mis- souri, is a native of this State. He was born at Hannibal, Missouri, May 31, 1875, and is a son of William F. and Mary Adelia (Allen) Marseilles. The Marseilles family is of French descent. William F. Marseilles was born in Hannibal, Missouri. He was a son of William Peter Marseilles, who came from France with a brother and sister to America at a very early day. Joseph, the other brother, located somewhere in the North and the sister remained at Baltimore. William Peter Marseilles, grand- father of Dr. Marseilles, came west and located at Hannibal, which at that time was a mere boat landing. He was a blacksmith and worked at his trade in Hannibal, where he spent his life. William F. Marseilles remained in Hannibal until 1890, when he removed to Brookfield. His wife, Mary Adelia (Allen) Marseilles, was a native of Sheboygan, Wis- consin. She died in 1912.
ยท Dr. Marseilles is one of a family of five children born to his parents : Florence, married C. H. Mount, who is now deceased, and she is a student
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in the American School of Osteopathy at Kirksville, Missouri; William M., the subject of this sketch; C. E., manager of a Thompson restaurant in Chicago; F. F., an osteopath, Flint, Michigan, and Allen, a farmer, Brookfield, Missouri.
Dr. Marseilles was educated in the public schools of Hannibal and Brookfield, Missouri. He then took a course in osteopathy at the Ameri- can School of Osteopathy at Kirksville, Missouri, and was graduated in 1904 with a degree of Doctor of Osteopathy. He practiced his profession a little over two years at Brookfield and in 1906 came to Clinton, where he has since been successfully engaged in the practice. He was married in 1895 to Miss Myrtle A. Rickett, a native of Brookfield, Missouri. She is a daughter of Abel and Alice (Leavy) Rickett, the former of whom is a native of Pennsylvania and the latter a native of Missouri. Mrs. Mar- seilles is also a graduate of the American School of Osteopathy, having been a member of the same class as her husband. She and her husband have practiced together since their marriage, and both are successful and skillful osteopaths, and since coming to Clinton have built up a large practice.
To Mr. and Mrs. Marseilles have been born two children, Frances Willard, married Grady Spangler, Clinton, Missouri, and Alice Adelia, a graduate of the Clinton High School, class of 1918. The elder girl is also a graduate of the Clinton High School.
Dr. Marseilles is a Knights Templar Mason, a member of the Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks, the Modern Woodmen of America, and he and his wife and the older daughter are members of the Eastern Star. The family are members of the Christian Church and Dr. Mar- seilles is a Democrat.
Dr. Marseilles is an active and energetic member of the Clinton Com- mercial Club and takes a keen interest in every movement that has for its purpose the building up and betterment of Clinton and Henry County. His influence and efforts have been a large factor in promoting a "white way" in Clinton, and he has used his influence for the industrial de- velopment of the town in the way of encouraging factories to locate here. Dr. Marseilles is a charter member of the Clinton Rotary Club, recently organized. Both he and his wife have an extensive acquaintance in Henry County, and are prominent in the community.
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Dr. Stephen Thompson Neill, successfully engaged in the practice of dentistry in Clinton and is mayor of the city; was born in Lexington, Missouri, April 9, 1865. He is a son of Henry and Sallie Ann (Elliott) Neill, the former a native of Lee County, Virginia, and the latter a daugh- ter of Col. Newton Glasgow Elliott of Howard County, Missouri. In early life Major Neill followed merchandising in Lexington, Missouri. He served throughout the Civil War, was major and colonel of his regi- ment and participated in the battles of Lone Jack, Pea Ridge, Wilson's Creek and others ; he was commander of the post at Clinton, Henry County, where his many acts of kindness and protection were appreciated by those holding opposite views to his. After his military service was concluded he studied law, was admitted to the bar and moved to Warrensburg, Missouri, where he began to practice, and there he remained until his death, which occurred in 1895. His wife passed away in 1871. They were the parents of six children.
Doctor Neill, the youngest, upon the death of his mother was taken by his father's sister, Mrs. Jane H. Wilson, to Lexington, Missouri, where he attended the public schools until the marriage of his father to Mrs. Lizzie Pennock. He then returned to Warrensburg and attended the public schools of that city. In 1876, when eleven years of age, he moved to the home of his sister near Dover and began farm work for his brother- in-law at a salary of five dollars per month, and during the winter months he attended the district school. At the age of sixteen his aunt, Mrs. Wilson, sent him for a term to Wentworth Military Academy at Lexing- ton and in 1882 he began the study of dentistry, attending the Phila- delphia Dental College and the St. Louis Dental College. At the age of twenty years, in 1885, he graduated and began the practice of his pro- fession in Corder, Missouri; a year later he moved to Harrisonville, this State; and in 1887 he came to Clinton, where he has continued in the general practice of dentistry, being widely recognized as one of the most able and efficient representatives of the profession and one of Clinton's most progressive citizens.
In February, 1892, Doctor Neill was married to Miss Cannarissa Adair, of Shawnee Mound, Henry County, Missouri, a daughter of Will- iam and Dorcas Ann (Fuqua) Adair, both natives of Kentucky. Her father was a farmer and stock raiser, conducting an extensive business. His parents were residents of Westport, now a part of Kansas City, near Swope Park. He was born in Kentucky, to which his mother had gone on a visit. In 1849, when eighteen years of age, he crossed the plains to
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California in command of a party from Westport, and made the journey across the Isthmus of Panama upon his return home two years later. In 1856 he settled in Henry County, where he engaged extensively in farming and stock raising, owning about six hundred acres. The family resided on the old homestead until the death of the father which occurred when he was seventy-eight years of age, while his wife passed away at the age of eighty-three. Mrs. Neill is the youngest of six children. There has been born a son to Doctor and Mrs. Neill, Stephen T. III, whose natal day was October 1, 1904.
Doctor Neill has ever been interested in the welfare and progress of his community. He assisted in the organization of the Missouri Union Telephone Company in 1898 and for twenty years has served as a direc- tor. He has been identified with the independent telephone throughout the state and nation, acting as president of the State association and several times as a delegate to the national conventions. He is likewise associated with several other local enterprises. In politics Doctor Neill is a Democrat and for seven years was councilman of Clinton, acting at one time for six months as mayor. In April of 1918 he was elected to the office of mayor of Clinton and is now serving the people of his home city in this executive capacity faithfully and well. He belongs to the Blue Lodge, of which he is a past master, and the chapter of the Ma- sonic fraternity, and also to the Knights of Pythias. He is a man of many sterling traits of character, of pronounced professional ability and business enterprise, and wherever he is known he is held in the highest regard.
James S. Spore, proprietor of the Spore & Son, furniture and under- taking business, Clinton, Missouri, is the most extensive furniture dealer in Henry County. Mr. Spore was born at Odessa, Missouri, November 12, 1886, and is a son of Elmer E. Spore and Emma (Summer) Spore. Elmer E. Spore was born near Edenburg, Illinois, June 1, 1860, and came to Missouri with his parents when a child. His father was a physician, and later in life was engaged in contracting and building at Odessa, Mis- souri. Elmer E. Spore was a graduate pharmacist. He came to Henry County and located at Blairstown, where he organized the firm of Spore & Sweatman, hardware and implement dealers. He disposed of his inter- ests in this business in 1896 and bought a farm east of Clinton. In 1904 he sold his farm and engaged in the furniture business in Clinton. He died February 12, 1917, and his son James S., who was a partner in the business at the time of his father's death, has continued the business
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under the same firm name of Spore & Son. Emma (Summer) Spore was born in Quincy, Illinois, and is a daughter of James Summer, a native of Kentucky, who was one of the first pioneer settlers in the vicinity of Quincy, Illinois. He pre-empted Government land near Quincy, where Mrs. Spore, the mother of James S., now resides.
Elmer E. Spore was strictly a business man. He did not aspire to hold political office, although he took a deep interest in public affairs and for civic betterment from the standpoint of the citizen rather than from the desire to hold public office. He was active in the betterment and upbuilding of Blairstown, building his residence there and took the same deep interest and civic pride in the advancement of the city of Clinton, after that city became the scene of his business activity. He was a member of the Masonic Lodge, the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, the Woodman of the World and the Christian Church.
James S. Spore was educated in the public schools and the Gem City Business College, Quincy, Illinois, graduating from that institution in 1905. He was then employed in Hannibal, Missouri, for about a year, when he returned to Clinton and engaged in the furniture business with his father, and has been continually associated with this business ever since that time. He and his father conducted the business from 1908 until the time of the father's death and since then James. S. has continued the busi- ness under the same firm name . Before the senior Mr. Spore bought this business, it was known as the Clinton Furniture Company, and had been so conducted for a number of years.
The Spore & Son furniture house is located on the south side of the public square and has a frontage of fifty-five feet, and is two hundred feet deep, with two large balconies which practically amount to a second floor. The most complete line of furniture, including rugs, linoleums and wall paper, in the county, are to be found here. They also carry talk- ing machines and have the best equipped undertaking establishment in the city. Mr. Spore is a licensed embalmer.
June 25, 1914, James S. Spore was united in marriage with Miss Lula Ann Griffith, a native of St. Clair County, Missouri, and a daughter of Wesley and Sarah E. Griffith. To this union has been born one child, James D.
Mr. Spore is a Mason and past master of the Clinton Lodge, and belongs to the Christian church. He is one of the progressive young business men of Henry County.
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Conrad Houck, a well to do farmer and Union veteran of Davis town- ship, is one of the oldest of the living pioneers of Henry County. He was born in Baden, Germany, August 1, 1831, and is the son of Valentine and Elizabeth Houck, both of whom spent their lives in their native land. When but a boy of fourteen years Conrad was moved by the spirit of adventure and the tales of the new world across the Atlantic, and set sail for America from a Belgian port. He set sail on March 5, 1854, and after an eventful voyage of sixty-five days he arrived at New Orleans. He was possessor of five francs (one dollar) when he arrived here and he immediately went to Rock Island County, Illinois, where he was em- ployed for three years upon a farm at eight dollars per month. In 1857 he brought his savings to Henry County and purchased forty acres of land on time, but continued to work out as a farm hand and at the time of the outbreak of the Civil War he was still working on the neighbor- ing farms.
Mr. Houck enlisted in the 7th Kansas Cavalry and served for four years and one month in active and continuous service of the hardest char- acter. He fought at the battle of Corinth, Mississippi, and the battle of Hollow Spring. His division assisted in driving the army of General Price out of Missouri. When they were ordered to Missouri to take up the pursuit of Price's army his command marched from Tupelo, Missis- sippi to Memphis, Tennessee, and thence by boat to St. Louis. From St. Louis they crossed the State and took up the pursuit of Price and fought a battle at Pleasanton, Kansas. Col. William F. Cody, "Buffalo Bill," was a member of Conrad Houck's company and he became well acquainted with Colonel Cody. Mr. Houck carefully saved his army pay and at the close of his service he returned to Henry County and invested his savings in land located south of La Due in Davis and Bear Creek townships. He built a small house in 1867 and developed his fine farm to the utmost and during the years that have passed he has become one of the most substantial farmers of the county.
In the fall of 1867 Mr. Houck was married to Mary Jane Morgan, a native of Indiana, who was born September 16, 1833, and departed this life on September 2, 1911. She was a daughter of Morrell Morgan. Mrs. Houck accompanied her brother-in-law to Henry County soon after the close of the war. One son has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Houck, Stephen Houck, born September 25, 1868, an industrious farmer who is operating the home farm of two hundred acres.
CONRAD HOUCK AND WIFE
STEPHEN HOUCK
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Prior to the Civil War Mr. Houck was a Democrat. During the course of the war he became a Republican and since that time has voted inde- pendently. His son, Stephen, is also an independent voter who believes in supporting good men for office.
Conrad Houck is one of the few remaining patriots of foreign birth who offered their lives that the Union might be saved and who still thinks that the United States is the greatest country on the face of the globe. While too old to actively assist his Government in the present great World War of democracy against the autocracy from which he came in order that he might be free and independent, he has willingly loaned to the Govern- ment thousands of dollars of his accumulations in order to finance the war. Mr. Houck and his son, Stephen, are fine citizens who have a repu- tation for honesty and industry that is unexcelled in the county.
Dr. L. M. Klutz of Clinton, Missouri, is the pioneer veterinary surgeon of Henry County, and the first regularly graduated veterinary surgeon to practice in this section of Missouri. He was born near Gold Hill, North Carolina, February 22, 1855, and is a son of Tobias and Elizabeth (Peck) Klutz, both natives of Cabarrus County, North Carolina, and descendants of old Southern stock. The Klutz family settled in North Carolina in Colonial days and probably came from Pennsylvania to North Carolina. Tobias Klutz resided in his native State until the Civil War broke out, when he enlisted in the Confederate Army. He was wounded at the Battle of the Wilderness, from the effect of which he died shortly after- wards in a Confederate Army hospital at Richmond, Virginia. His wife spent her life in North Carolina, where she died in 1883 at the age of sixty-seven. They were the parents of seven children, four of whom are living, as follows: John D., Gold Hill, North Carolina; Mrs. Margaret Nussman, Salisbury, North Carolina; George L., Gold Hill, North Caro- lina, and Dr. L. M., the subject of this sketch. Paul, Jerry, Josephine, Rose Ann are deceased.
Doctor Klutz was reared and educated in North Carolina. In 1887 he went to Chicago, and entered the Chicago Veterinary College, and was graduated from that institution March 21, 1889, with a degree of Doctor of Veterinary Surgery. He immediately came to Henry County and engaged in the practice of his profession, which he has followed ever since. When he came here he was the only graduate veterinary surgeon, not only in Henry County, but over a vast stretch of country, including adjoining counties, and his practice extended into St. Clair, Johnson, Cass,
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Bates, Vernon, and other counties in western Missouri. Dr. Klutz has conducted a well-equipped veterinary hospital in Clinton for over twenty years. It is located at 510 Bodine avenue. He has ever been a close student of the science of his profession, and has been a part of the de- velopment of the science of veterinary surgery, which has made such marked progress during the last quarter of a century. He was one of the organizers of the Missouri State Veterinary and Medical Association which was organized in 1892. He bears the distinction of being the first president of that organization, and as a tribute to his great worth in the profession, he was elected an honorary member for life of the Mis- souri State Veterinary and Medical Association in 1913.
Doctor Klutz was united in marriage with Miss Adella Mckinney, a native of Clinton, Henry County, a daughter of William and Elizabeth (Ryan) Mckinney, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Indiana. They were early settlers in Henry County and are now deceased, and their remains rest in Englewood Cemetery. To Doctor and Mrs. Klutz have been born the following children: Mary Elizabeth, a graduate of the Clinton High School, now a teacher in the Deepwater public schools, resides at home; Harry Lawson, a graduate of the Clinton High School, at home; Lee Mckinney, a student in the Clinton High School; Mabel Irene, Paul Jerry, and Margaret Adella, all students in the Clinton grade schools.
Doctor Klutz is a Democrat, although he is inclined to take an inde- pendent view of politics. He holds membership in the Woodmen of the World, and belongs to the Presbyterian church.
George Samuel Poague, now deceased, was a worthy pioneer of this section of Missouri. He was born in Ashland, Kentucky, February 6, 1827, a son of Thomas Hoge Poague and Nancy Allen (Frame) Poague. The former was a native of Augusta County, Virginia. He was born near Staunton, February 4, 1792, and died at Victoria, Texas, May 31, 1841. He was an extensive land owner and also owned and operated an iron furnace. Thomas Hoge Poague was a son of Maj. George and Ann Allen Poague, the latter being a daughter of Capt. James Allen, of Virginia. Maj. George Poague was born in Augusta County, Virginia, March 28, 1754; he died September 16, 1821. He qualified as captain of the Augusta County Militia June 20, 1781 (Chaukly, Vol. I, page 221). He was in active service. (See Pensions Declarations of William Green, Chaukly, Vol. II, page 495; Edward Stuart, Chaukly, same; and Ralph Wonless,
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same Vol., page 498.) Maj. George Poague was a son of John and Mary Crawford Poague. John Poague was born in Ireland about 1726, mar- ried June 3, 1751, and died in Augusta County, Virginia, in 1789. He qualified as captain of a troop of horse, August 19, 1752, qualified as justice of the Augusta County Court November 23, 1762, and regularly thereafter until after the close of the Revolutionary War, including the dates, August 20, 1776 (Chaukly's Abstracts, Vol. I, page 196) and No- vember 19, 1779 (Chaukly, Vol. I, page 2) and he qualified as high sheriff of Augusta County March 17, 1778 (Chaukly, Vol. I, page 196) and was elected Burgess of the Virginia Legislature in 1776 (Chaukly, Vol. I, pages 504-6) and also qualified as surveyor.
John Poague's parents were Robert and Elizabeth Poague, who set- tled near Staunton, Virginia, about 1737. They had nine children when they settled there, and one son was born afterwards.
Nancy Allen Frame, mother of George Samuel Poague, was a daugh- ter of Captain Samuel and Nancy (Allen) Frame. Nancy Allen was a daughter of Captain James and Margaret Allen, who had two sons and eight daughters, and lived in Augusta County, Virginia. Captain James Allen had two brothers, John, who was a lieutenant under Washington, and was killed at the time Braddock was defeated in 1754, and Hugh Allen, who was a lieutenant under Gen. Andrew Lewis and was killed at the Battle of Point Pleasant in 1754. Capt. James Allen and his brothers came from Ireland and settled in Augusta County, Virginia. He was one of the first elders of the historic old stone church, which was erected on Middle River, near Staunton.
George Samuel Poague was reared to manhood in Ashland, Ken- tucky, and received his education there. In early life he engaged in the mercantile business, and in 1858 he came to Missouri, and first settled in Johnson County, near Warrensburg. Two years later he removed to Benton County, and purchased a farm, part of which was in Benton and part in Henry County, and here spent the remainder of his life. He was a staunch Democrat, and a man highly respected by all who knew him. He did not serve in the Civil War on account of physical disabilities. He died December 13, 1882.
July 25, 1853, George Samuel Poague and Eliza Christena Kellar were united in marriage at Louisa, Kentucky. She was born at Bar- boursville, West Virginia (then Virginia), September 28, 1833, and died at her home in Clinton, Missouri, September 12, 1913. She was a daugh-
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ter of John Louis, and Hannah (Miller) Kellar, natives of Germany, and early settlers in Missouri.
To George Samuel and Eliza Christena (Kellar) Poague were born the following children: John Thomas, retired, Clinton, Missouri; George Madison, farmer, Jerico Springs, Missouri; Frederick Cary, Greeley, Colo- rado; Emma Eugenia, died at the age of two years; Dr. Samuel Allen, a sketch of whom appears in this volume; Henry Fewel, a sketch of whom also appears in this volume; Hattie Adelaide, the wife of Law- rence Crotty, a locomotive engineer on the Kansas City, Clinton and Springfield railway; William Rhea, merchant, Clinton; and Thomas, who is an adopted son, named Thomas Cude, but took the name of Poague, and is in the employ of the Clinton Waterworks.
Henry F. Poague, successfully engaged in the active practice of law in Clinton since 1893, and recognized as one of the forceful and resource- ful members of the Henry County Bar, was born in Benton County, Mis- souri, March 17, 1868, a son of George Samuel and Eliza C. (Kellar) Poague. The father was born in Ashland, Kentucky, February 6, 1827, and was a son of Thomas Hoge and Nancy Allen (Frame) Poague. The former was born February 4, 1792, and the latter on the 2nd of January, 1801. Both were natives of Kentucky and Thomas H. Poague was the ninth in order of birth in a family of thirteen children. The great-great- grandfather of our subject was John Poague, who was a native of Ireland and settled in Virginia in 1737, his last days being spent in Augusta County, that State, where he departed this life in 1789. The children of John and Mary Poague were as follows: Robert, born in Augusta County, Virginia, in 1752, married his second cousin, Mary Hopkins, on the 17th of June, 1782, and died near Ashland, Kentucky, in 1810. Maj. George Poague was born in Augusta county, Virginia, March 28, 1754. He married Ann Allen, daughter of Capt. James Allen, the wedding being celebrated in 1774. He qualified as captain of the Augusta County, Virginia, Militia, and was in active service. He died near Ashland, Kentucky, September 16, 1821. Col. William Poague, the third of the family, was born in Augusta County, Virginia, February 17, 1756, mar- ried Margaret Davis and died in Pocahontas County, West Virginia, De- cember 7, 1830. John Poague was born in Augusta County, Virginia, De- cember 23, 1757, married his second cousin, Rebecca Hopkins, and died in his native State in 1827. Col. James Poague, born in Augusta county, Virginia, March 17, 1760, was married March 19, 1787, to his cousin,
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Mary Woods, and died at Ripley, Ohio, April 19, 1820. Elizabeth, born in Augusta County, Virginia, became the wife of Rev. Moses Hoge, D. D., on the 23rd of August, 1783, and passed away in Virginia in 1802. Rev. Thomas Poague, born in Augusta County, Virginia, married Laura Wat- kins in 1792 and passed away in the Old Dominion in the same year. Ann, born in Augusta County, became the wife of Andrew Kinkead and died in Kentucky.
Thomas Hoge Poage, as previously stated, was the ninth of thirteen children born unto Maj. George and Ann (Allen) Poague. He was forty- nine years of age when he passed away May 31, 1841. His wife, Nancy Allen (Frame) Poague, long survived him and died July 13, 1889. Thomas H. Poague became an extensive landowner, planter and slave-owner, oper- ating plantations near Ashland, Kentucky. He also had large tracts of land in Texas and to his plantations there took many of his negroes be- cause of the agitation in Virginia against slavery. While on a trip of in- spection to his plantations in the Lone Star State he became ill of yellow fever and died there. Unto him and his wife were born eight children: Margaret Ann, who was born July 30, 1821, died in infancy. Agnes Vir- ginia, born October 7, 1824, resides on a large plantation near Car- lisle, Kentucky. She is the widow of William Shanklin, who was a banker and extensive landowner of that locality. George Samuel was the third in order of birth. Hugh Calvin, born June 16, 1829, died in 1900. Isabel Jane, born August 12, 1831, died at the age of two and one-half years. Thomas C., born August 4, 1834, died December 15, 1877. Rebecca Craw- ford, born August 7, 1836, became the wife of R. C. Wilson and is now a widow living in Carlisle, Kentucky. John William, born February 9, 1840, died July 9, 1868.
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