USA > Missouri > Henry County > History of Henry County, Missouri > Part 31
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Judge Harrison came to Missouri in 1856 and during the first year lived at the home of his brother-in-law, Leonard Fisher, who had located in Henry County in 1855. He entered his home place of 160 acres in
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1857 and made his home thereon as herein stated. On January 10, 1851, the marriage of James M. Harrison and Esther Fisher was consummated in Jackson County, West Virginia. This marriage was blessed with the following children: The first child born died in infancy; Mrs. Mary Eliza- beth Wagner, deceased, left one child, May Wagner; John W., deceased, married Anna Rutledge and left three children, James G., Mrs. R. B. Gates and Ray H., now serving in National Army in France, Company B, 18th Regiment Railway Engineers; James Henry, living in Oklahoma, married Mattie Birge and has two children, Mrs. Odessa Harris and Charles Wesley, and Mordecai M. Mordecai M. Harrison was born in 1865 and is the owner of a fine farm of 160 acres. He married Linnie Suttles and had five children, two of whom are living, Esther and Mamie. Mrs. Esther Harrison died December 5, 1877, aged fifty-two years. On January 2, 1881, Judge Harrison was married to Margaret P. Greer, who bore him one child, Clement J., now deceased.
During his entire life, since attaining his majority, Judge Harrison has been a stanch Democrat and has been one of the leaders of his party in Henry County. He served eight years as a judge of the County Court, his first term having been in the early eighties and his second term from 1894 to 1898, during which time the present court house at Clinton was erected. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
William Lincoln Gilkeson .- The late William L. Gilkeson, whose widow and family are now residing in Davis township, Henry County, was born on August 6, 1864, and departed this life April 7, 1895. He was born in Indiana, and was a son of George Nelson Gilkeson, who settled in Cass County, Missouri, in 1868. William L. Gilkeson was reared to young manhood in Cass County and was there married and engaged in agricultural pursuits until his death. After his death, Mrs. Gilkeson removed to Garden City, Missouri, where she resided until 1915, and then came to her native county of Henry and purchased a farm of eighty- two acres in Davis township.
Mr. Gilkeson was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and was an excellent citizen, industrious, energetic, and stood high in the community in which he resided. He was fraternally affiliated with the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Knights of Pythias, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
William Lincoln Gilkeson and Miss Mary J. Rogers of Henry County were married in 1887. Mrs. Mary J. Gilkeson was born on the Rogers
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home place in Henry County July 22, 1866, and is the daughter of Thomas Sidney and Lucinda (Fletcher) Rogers, who were among the earliest pioneer settlers of Henry County and were prominent in the affairs of this county during the early days.
The children born to William and Mary Gilkeson are as follow; Mary Louise, wife of Martin E. Dunham, Sweet Springs, Missouri, mother of one child, Eugene Milton; Ella Florence, at home with her mother; Will- iam Lawrence, operating the home farm. All of the children were edu- cated in the Garden City public and high school. Ella Florence attended the Howard Payne College for Girls at Forsythe, Missouri, and Louise taught school for two years prior to her marriage. Mrs. Gilkeson still owns her former home at Garden City in addition to her fine farm, which she is constantly improving. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
William Rusk .- The oldest settler in the southwestern part of Fair- view township is William Rusk, who for over fifty years has resided upon his quarter section farm. He was the first settler in his neighborhood who located upon the prairie. William Rusk was born at McConnells- ville, Ohio, January 10, 1834, on the Muskingum River. He is the son of Humphrey and Margaret (McDonald) Rusk, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Pennsylvania. Until he was twenty-two years of age, William Rusk resided in his native county. In the fall of 1855 he went to Illinois, and after a residence of ten years in De Witt County, that State, he went to Iowa. Two years later, in November of 1868, he located on a tract of prairie land in Fairview township. He improved this farm and has mined coal on the place since 1884. The entire tract is underlaid with coal. Mr. Rusk sold eighty acres of the farm to his son, who has erected improvements thereon, and is farming the entire tract.
April 13, 1878, William Rusk and Mrs. Mary S. Sweazy were united in marriage. Mrs. Rusk was the widow of James Sweazy. Two sons were born of this marriage: Ira T., living in Kansas City, Missouri; James M., Harris, Kansas. Mrs. Mary S. (Harnett) Rusk was born in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, on September 9, 1846, and is the daughter of Samuel and Sarah Walker (Corey) Harnett, natives of Pennsylvania. The mother of Samuel Harnett was Barbara Lutzenheizer prior to her marriage. The great-great-grandfather of Mrs. Rusk was James Harnett, who served in the American Revolution and whose wife was a girlhood friend of Martha Washington, nee Custis, and it is a matter of family
WILLIAM RUSK AND WIFE
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tradition that one time when the women were doing a washing down by the sea coast they covered their heads with a large kettle and a clothes basket and ran from hostile Indians on the banks of the Potomac. The Harnett historical kettle is still preserved as an interesting relic by mem- bers of the Harnett family. Samuel Harnett, father of Mrs. Rusk, lo- cated in Ohio in 1855, and in 1866 removed to Illinois, where a brother of Mrs. Rusk, named Joseph M. Harnett, became very prominent in Cham- paign County, was a soldier of the Union and served as special pension examiner for the United States Government, with offices in Washington. He was high in Masonic circles. Mary S. Harnett was first married in Illinois to James Sweazy, who died. Later William Rusk came on from his new home in Missouri and wooed and won her for a wife. The town of Enon Valley was built upon the farm owned by Samuel Harnett in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, and upon his farm is located the famous spring which furnished water for the Pittsburg and Fort Wayne railroad for many years. The first train which Mrs. Rusk saw passed over this road and it was the first train to go over the road. The Harnett children were all well educated. Mrs. Elizabeth Frederick, Mrs. Rusk's oldest sister, who lived in Henry County, was a classmate of Mrs. James A. Garfield, nee Rudolph, at Hiram College, Ohio. John and Ezra, her two oldest brothers, were classmates of James A. Garfield and completed their classical education at Bethany College, West Virginia. They taught in the South for a number of years.
The children of William and Mary S. Rusk are as follow: William Harnett Garfield Rusk, born March 4, 1881, married Daisy Barker, and has three children, Gladys Dimple, aged fourteen, William Wilson, twelve years old, and Ethel Gertrude, aged ten years; Sarah Corey, born Octo- ber 7, 1885, married Robert Arthur Faris and lives at Cimmarron, New Mexico, mother of four children, William Theodore, eight years old, Bar- bara Evelyn, aged seven, Harry Arthur, four years of age, Robert Leon- ard, an infant of four months. Robert Arthur Faris volunteered for ser- vice in the National Army for overseas service, enlisting in the 115th Regiment Regular United States Army, the Engineering Corps, and is located at Camp Kearney, California.
William Rusk's first marriage was with Rebecca A. Farhner in Illi- nois and took place in 1862. The first Mrs. Rusk died in 1876, leaving five children: Jacob Humphrey, accidentally killed at the age of fourteen years; Horatio Seymour, Norwood, Colorado; Margaret Elizabeth, wife of
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Alfred Dunham, Colorado; James McDonald, California ; Otha Perley, Nor- wood, Colorado.
Since 1880 William Rusk has been allied heart and soul with the Prohibition party and has devoted many years of his life to the cause of prohibition. For years he stood alone as the only Prohibitionist in his township but has lived to see actual prohibition in Henry County became an accomplished fact. If he is spared for a few more months or years longer he will see his heartfelt wish realized-national prohibition. He was one of the charter members of the Westfield Presbyterian Church at its organization in 1870 and has been a ruling elder of this church for nearly fifty years, a record of which any citizen can well be proud. Mr. and Mrs. Rusk are kindly, intelligent and hospitable people who are highly regarded in Henry County.
Charles H. Mertel, who for forty-five years has been a citizen of Henry County, a useful and successful citizen, whose geniality and pub- lic spiritedness is marked, is one of the best known of the "real old settlers" of the county. Mr. Mertel was born in Saxony, Germany, Octo- ber 25, 1852, the son of Frederick and Natalia (Witchell) Mertel, natives of Saxony. The parents of Charles H. Mertel immigrated to America in 1856, crossing the Atlantic in a sailing vessel, which required seven weeks to make the voyage to New Orleans. The family journeyed up the Mis- sissippi from New Orleans to St. Louis, arriving there on New Years day just when navigation on the Mississippi closed for the winter. After a year's residence in St. Louis they removed to Iowa and lived there for two years, then, after a six months' stay in St. Louis, they located in St. Charles County, Missouri, and resided on a farm there during the Civil War period. In 1871 they located in Johnson County on Clear Fork. Two years later they came to Henry County and settled on section 14, Davis township. Mertel, Sr., was a great hunter and was constantly engaged in hunting expeditions during the deer season. In 1878 while he was absent on a deer hunt near Warsaw, Missouri, with others, he was shot and killed by natives who objected to the hunters being in the neighborhood. He was father of four children: The first born died in Saxony; Frederick W., is deceased; Edward L., deceased, and Charles, the subject of this review.
When Charles H. Mertel attained the age of twenty-five years, he began his own career. After tilling his father's farm for one year, he obtained possession of the tract and built up the farm to a splendidly
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improved tract of 200 acres, rated as one of the finest improved farms in western Missouri. In the meantime, he purchased his present home farm in the northern part of Davis township and in 1902 he sold the old home place and located on the farm of 170 acres where he is now making his home. He has lived in this county for forty-five years, with the exception of three years, from 1911 to 1913, inclusive, which time he spent in Oklahoma. He was the prime promoter in the building of the town of Wynona on the Missouri, Kansas & Texas railroad, situated be- tween Parsons and Oklahoma City, and was town manager, filling the offices of mayor, justice of the peace and editor of the "Wynona En- terprise."
Mr. Mertel is a Republican in politics. He is a member of Mt. Carmel Presbyterian Church and is one of the best citizens of Henry County. He was married in 1876 to Miss Kate Cook, born at Cook's Mill, on Grand River in Henry County, a daughter of Jacob and Amelia Cook, the for- mer of whom erected and operated the mill which bore his name. Seven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Mertel as follow: Annie Florence, wife of L. J. Hendricks, Davis township; Fred C., a banker at Minneap- olis, Minnesota; Edna May, wife of W. F. Landrum, Monett, Missouri; Ella Augusta, wife of Newton Price, Walters, Oklahoma; Edward, man- ager of the Farmers Elevator at Plaza, North Dakota ; Walter O., a farmer living near Quincy, Illinois; Ruth C., a teacher in the Monett, Missouri, schools. Mr. and Mrs. Mertel have nine grandchildren. Best of all they have the extreme satisfaction of having educated each of their children and have given them a good start in life so that they are all well-to-do, and prosperous and occupy important places in the various communities in which they reside. When a wedded pair such as Mr. and Mrs. Charles H. Mertel can look back over the long years spent in doing good, and are satisfied that they have done their best and have given to the Nation such a splendid family of sons and daughters, they can well be content, and their later years can be lived peacefully and without regret.
Judge William M. Wilson has been a resident of Henry County for over fifty years and is one of the best known horsemen in the western part of Missouri. While Judge Wilson's vocation has been that of farmer and stockman, his hobby has been that of a horseman. For many years Judge Wilson has been training fast horses and has been a breeder of track animals. He is the present owner of "El Casco," trial 2:15, a five year old. He has some very fine road horses in his stables, among them
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being "Hummingbird," a blue ribbon winner who has won ribbons and prizes at the various fine stock shows and fairs held in this section of the State. "El Casco" was bred at the Walnut Hall Farm, Donnerail, near Lexington, Kentucky, and is a beautiful and intelligent animal.
Mr. Wilson was born on a farm in Tennessee and is the son of Samuel and Martha (Weaver) Wilson, natives of Tennessee and Kentucky, re- spectively. Martha Weaver Wilson was a daughter of Benjamin Weaver, a soldier of the War of 1812. In 1854 the parents of William M. Wilson removed to Iowa and after a residence there of a few months they came westward and located in Macon County, Missouri. In 1865 Samuel Wil- son came to Henry County and settled in Walker township, where he be- came a large land owner and was widely known throughout the county as a successful farmer and stockman. He died in 1886 at the age of sixty-nine years. His father was Samuel Wilson, a native of Tennessee who was descended from ancestors who came to America from the North Ireland country.
Samuel and Martha Wilson were parents of ten children, seven of whom were reared to maturity: Gerald, deceased; Benjamin, Marceline, Missouri; Philander, deceased; Mrs. Cordelia Hibler, Walker township; Mrs. Sarah Ann Short, Barton County, Missouri; William M., subject of this review; John M., a farmer of Walker township. The mother of these children was born in 1818 and departed this life in 1885.
William M. Wilson was reared to manhood in Henry County and has resided on his farm in Davis township for the past forty years. He is owner of 235 acres of good land in this township.
William M. Wilson and Janie Smith, a daughter of the late J. P. Smith of Henry County, were united in marriage in 1872. They have had four children: Mrs. Willie Young, living in Walker township; Mrs. Lulu Warner, Davis township; Samuel and Benjamin, who are tilling the home place.
The Democratic party has always had the support and allegiance of Judge Wilson. He has served two terms as a member of the County Court for the second district of Henry County. He is a member of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and is highly esteemed by all who know him.
J. L. Ferry, a prosperous farmer and stockman of Davis township and owner of 200 acres of splendid farm land near the town of La Due, was born in Keokuk County, Iowa, July 14, 1861. He is the son of Chester
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and Elizabeth (Stokesberry) Ferry, who were natives of Ohio and In- diana, respectively.
Chester Ferry was born in Ohio in 1832 and died in 1914. He was a son of Harvey Ferry, who was an early pioneer settler in Keokuk County, Iowa. Elizabeth (Stokesberry) Ferry was born in Indiana in 1839 and is the daughter of John Stokesberry, who entered Government land in Keokuk County as early as 1843, at a period when the north- eastern part of Iowa was largely in a wild unsettled state. She is now residing in Sigourney, Iowa. There were five daughters and two sons born to Chester and Elizabeth Ferry, as follow: Mrs. Martha Lockridge, Corvallis, Oregon; J. L. Ferry, subject of this review ; Mrs. Mary Bowker, Rock Island, Illinois; Mrs. Lillie Wood, Atlanta, Macon County, Missouri; John, Mt. Pleasant, Iowa; Mrs. Lizette Price, Walla Walla, Washington; Mrs. Leona Slacks, wife of Prof. John Slacks, Sac City, Iowa, county superintendent of schools in Sac County, Iowa.
J. L. Ferry had little opportunity to secure an education in his youth- ful days and at an early age began working on his father's farm. He resided at home until his marriage with Miss Lucy Lockridge on October 16. 1883. Mrs. Lucy (Lockridge) Ferry was born near Sigourney, Iowa, a daughter of William and Hannah (Gray) Lockridge, the former of whom was born near Wheeling, West Virginia, and the latter was a na- tive of Pennsylvania. William Lockridge located in Iowa as early as 1844, settling in Keokuk County. Prior to this he had farmed for a time in Washington County, Pennsylvania. He was born in 1820 and died in 1903. Mrs. Hannah Lockridge was born in 1822 and departed this life in 1883. They were parents of eight children: Mrs. Mary Demarce, Delta, Iowa; Mrs. Sarah Chesney, died at Keota, Iowa; Mrs. Margaretta Overturf, died at Sigourney, Iowa; Jesse, Corvallis, Oregon; Mrs. Jane Hahn, Sigourney, Iowa; Mrs. J. L. Ferry; James, Delta, Iowa.
Mr. and Mrs. Ferry began their married life on the Ferry farm in Iowa and resided there for one year. They then purchased forty acres of land and resided upon it for three years. This farm they sold and then moved to a farm near Fairfield, which they rented for two years. For the following ten years they lived upon a farm situated between Fairfield and Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, which they eventually sold. They came to Missouri after selling this farm and bought a place located six miles east of Memphis in Scotland County, Missouri, upon which they lived for one year, selling out the place at an advance over the purchase price.
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Mr. Ferry's next investment was in a farm located between Gorin and Wyaconda, Missouri, where they resided for two years, disposing of this farm at a profit of $10 an acre above the purchase price. For the follow- ing three years they resided upon a farm of 160 acres located in Shelby County, Missouri, near the town of Letner. This farm was sold at an advance of $25 an acre after Mr. Ferry had improved it and made the tract more valuable. In 1907 the Ferrys came to Henry County, where Mr. Ferry owns 200 acres of excellent land just north of La Due, in Davis township. Eighty acres of this land lies in section 14, and 120 acres is located in section 23. The farm is well improved and during the past ten years Mr. Ferry has encircled the land with a hog tight wire fence and has been engaged in raising pure bred Duroc Jersey hogs for the market as well as producing cattle.
Mr. and Mrs. J. L. Ferry are parents of the following children: Estella, wife of Garry Hull, La Due, Missouri; Mary, deceased; Cressie, wife of Julius Kiefer, Wyconda, Missouri; Elsie, wife of Clyde Louder- man, a soldier in the National Army; Ralph, deceased; Raymond, born May 5, 1896, a private in the National Army, trained at Camp Travis, San Antonio, Texas, and saw service on the firing line in France; Ruth, deceased; Wilson and Paul, at home.
Mr. Ferry is a Republican in politics and is looked upon as one ยท of the best and progressive citizens of his township and county. The Ferry family have taken their places among the citizens of Henry County and have made many warm friends during the eleven years of their resi- dence in this county.
Jacob Schneider .- If any individual can correctly be called a "jack of all trades" it is the average agriculturist. Often remote from centers of population it is impossible for him to obtain the advantages of skilled labor in building or repairing so necessary on the farm. The farmer's stronghold must, of necessity, be a complete plant in itself, and the farmer is very often a mechanic, able to do many things besides intelli- gently cultivating the soil. Jacob Schneider and his sons, successful farmers of Davis township, are striking examples of "all round" capa- bility in the management of this large estate of 381 acres. When Mr. Schneider located upon his place in 1898 there were many things to be done to create a first class agricultural plant. One hundred seventy acres of his farm were Grand River bottom lands, subject to overflow. To protect the land from periodical inundations and render it productive,
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he built two miles of levy which successfully stopped the overflowing of his land. This bottom land produces fifty bushels of corn to the acre. There were seventy-five acres of wheat on the place which averaged twenty-seven and one-half bushels to the acre this year, a total of 1,775 bushels. Mrs. Schneider and the Schneider girls have one of the largest gardens in Henry County, the cultivation of which adds materially to the family income. Mr. Schneider raises from forty to sixty head of pure bred Duroc Jersey hogs annually. The Schneider home is an at- tractive one, which sets far back from the highway and was practically erected and improved from time to time by Mr. Schneider and the mem- bers of his family. The success of Mr. Schneider is due to the excellent co-operation and assistance he has always received from his wife and the various members of his family. Some men are prone to take all credit to themselves for their accomplishments, but not so with Mr. Schneider, who says that his success is due to the help given him at all times by his wife and children.
Jacob Schneider was born in St. Charles County, Missouri, in 1855 and is the son of Jacob and Annie Catherine (Gerlach) Schneider, na- tives of Baden, Germany. His parents were born near the city of Heidel- berg, there were reared and married and in 1854 set out for America with their three children to found a home in this great country. Jacob, the elder, was concerned with the uprising of the German people in 1849 and was forced to flee from the land of his birth in order to save his life. He found a haven in this country and made a home near Cottleville, St. Charles County, and resided there until his death in 1870 at the age of fifty years. The wife and mother died in 1897, at the age of seventy-two years. Ten children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Schneider, seven of whom were reared to maturity: George Henry, deceased; Mrs. Anna Maria Vierling, St. Charles County; Catharine, deceased; Jacob, the sub- ject of this review; Michale, deceased; John, died in October, 1917.
Mr. Schneider came to Henry County in 1883 and first located on a farm three miles north of La Due. This was the old Birch place and consisted of eighty acres which Mr. Schneider purchased. One year later he traded this farm for a tract of 160 acres which he sold after cultivating it for a period of fourteen years. He then bought his present farm, which he has improved into one of the finest farms in western Missouri.
On May 28, 1878, occurred the marriage of Jacob Schneider and Caroline Kohler, in St. Charles County. Mrs. Schneider was born in
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Schleusburg, St. Charles County, and is the daughter of Henry Kohler, a native of Germany. The following children have been born of this marriage: Louis, at home and assisting with the farm work; George, deceased; Jacob, Kansas City, Missouri; Catherine, wife of John Hilde- brandt, a farmer of Davis township; Benjamin, at home; John, living in Washington, where he is engaged in lumbering; Charles, Mary, Bertha, Ruth and Philip, at home with their parents.
For over forty years Mr. Schneider voted the Democratic ticket but is now inclined to Socialism. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America Lodge.
James E. Teays .- The Teays family is one of the oldest pioneer fami- lies of Henry County and western Missouri. Since 1840 when the elder Teays, father of James E. and Edward Teays, of whom this sketch is written, first entered a large tract of land in the southeast corner of Bear Creek township, this land has remained in possession of the family. James T. Teays, the elder, in his dying words to his sons, said: "Take care of the place." Ever since that time the sons have been improving this splen- did tract of seven hundred seventy acres, one of the largest individual farms in Henry County. There are two sets of splendid improvements on this farm. The homestead is one of the largest and best built struc- tures in the county.
James E. Teays was born March 20, 1844, in a log cabin which was the first structure erected by his father upon his land in 1841. He is the son of James T. Teays (born 1807, died April 1, 1875). James T. Teays was a native of Kanawha County, West Virginia, and he migrated to Missouri in 1840. The following year he brought his family to the new home in Henry County and resided here until his death. He was accom- panied by his father-in-law, John Everett. Until the log cabin could be erected in 1841 the family lived under a large tree which stood upon a high point of the Teays land. Mr. Teays entered Government land and also purchased land at $1.25 an acre until he accumulated a large tract of nearly 800 acres. In West Virginia James T. Teays married Eliza Ann Everett, born in Cabell County, Virginia, in 1810 and departed this life in 1880. The children born to James T. and Eliza Ann Teays were: Stephen, Francis Asbury, William Carroll, and Mary Elizabeth, deceased; James E., of this review; Edward, also of this review; Virginia and Henry deceased.
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