USA > Missouri > Henry County > History of Henry County, Missouri > Part 39
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Rev. William Perry Armstrong .- "Hollyhock Place."-Unselfish de- votion to duty and the cause of humanity has characterized the lives of the late William Perry Armstrong and his devoted wife, Mrs. Laura Avery Armstrong. Their beautiful suburban place in the northern part of the city of Clinton is noted the country over as "Hollyhock Place," because of the profusion of hollyhocks and flowers of all kinds which are bloom- ing during the spring, summer and autumn. It is one of the show places of Henry County and western Missouri, and Mrs. Armstrong devotes the greater part of her spare time to caring for her flowers just to see them grow and have plenty for her friends.
Rev. William Perry Armstrong was a real man among men whose work as a minister of the Gospel, in a religious and constructive sense, will endure for all time to come. He was revered and respected by all who came in contact with him, and he was widely known throughout this section of the Middle West as an unselfish and devoted laborer in the vine- yard of the Lord. He was born in Warrick County, Indiana, October 29, 1837, the son of William and Mary (Perry) Armstrong, residents of Warrick County. The father of William, the elder, was born in Cork County, Ireland. William P. Armstrong was twice married, his first wife having been Mary Caroline Hartenburg, of Washington County, Indiana, who died in Indiana. One child, Harriet Helen, was born to that union, who died January 29, 1867. Mary Caroline (Armstrong) died February 16, 1868, at Salem Parsonage, Indiana.
Rev. William P. Armstrong's second marriage took place at Evans- ville, Indiana, November 1, 1876, with Mrs. Laura Avery (Knowles) Von Hiestand, who bore him children as follow: Ellen May, born at Manhat-
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tan, Kansas, and is the wife of George A. Taylor of Green street, Clinton, Missouri ; William Earl, born November 8, 1883, at Pierce City, Missouri, and died Tuesday, September 22, 1908.
Rev. William Perry Armstrong became a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church when a young man and devoted the greater portion of his life to spreading the Gospel and in religious works of a practical and enduring order. He was not only successful in his profession but achieved a success in a business sense so that during his later years he was re- lieved from any dependence upon the church and could devote his time and talents to the building up of small, struggling churches without need or desire of recompense. He followed the ministry, mainly, for the love of the work and not as a necessity. He served in the Evansville, Indiana, Conference until called upon to devote his time to various weak churches in different localities of the West which were in need of a strong, able man to lift church debts, erect new edifices, and place the congregations in a state of financial well being. Several years of his life were devoted to this arduous work and he felt well repaid for his successes as a builder and church financier. He built up a splendid church at Pierce City, Mis- souri. He came to Clinton, Missouri, in 1881 and built the present Metho- dist Episcopal Church and at the same time purchased a permanent abid- ing place consisting of a farm just on the northern edge of the city, em- bracing 165 acres of valuable land. From Clinton he was called to Spring- field, Missouri, where during the second year of his work his health failed and he returned to his home to recuperate. For nine years after regaining his health he confined his religious and ministerial activities to purely local work and served the churches of Neosho and Pierce City, Missouri, building the Nevada Methodist Church. He built up many poor churches during his later years of active ministerial work purely for the love of doing good for the cause of Christianity. Rev. William Perry Armstrong departed this life on November 22, 1916, deeply and sincerely mourned by thousands of people who had known and loved him as an upright man of God.
Mrs. Laura Avery (Knowles) Armstrong, widow of Rev. William Perry Armstrong, was born on Catalpa Plantation on the shores of the Tennessee River, Mississippi, and when but a few hours old was taken to Glen Marion Plantation, Arkansas, a beautiful tract which had been cut out of the heart of the forest and transformed into a magnificent country
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estate by her older brothers. She lived on this plantation until sixteen years of age. Laura Avery Knowles is a daughter of Doctor David and Emily (Avery) Knowles, the latter of whom was a member of the old Avery family of Mystic, Connecticut, which numbers among its mem- bers many famous men and women in America. Doctor Knowles was a finely educated physician and was born in Connecticut. After his mar- riage he first moved to the Johnson and Bradish plantations, nine miles from New Orleans, where his first six children were born. Later he moved to Mud City, near Memphis, and then to Glen Marion Plantation. After the war he located in Mt. Vernon, Indiana, to be near his children and there built up a miniature Glen Marion in the suburbs of that city. He lived there until old age rendered him helpless and he then removed to the home of his son at Vienna, Illinois, where he died at the age of eighty- seven years. Mrs. Knowles died at the age of eighty-four years. The children of Doctor and Mrs. Knowles are as follows: Ellen, Louisa, Latham, Dudley and Henry, twins; Nancy and Amanda, twins; Emma, Adele, and Laura Avery.
Laura Avery (Knowles) Armstrong was educated by governesses in her father's home in the South and attended a finishing school for young ladies at Henderson, Kentucky. Her first marriage occurred in 1864 and was a romantic character. A house party to which the young gentry of the surrounding country were invited, was being held and she and a young man whom she hardly knew were selected to pose as the bride and groom in a mock wedding ceremony. The young man was De Witt Von Hiestand, the youngest son of a rich planter who was the owner of Adams street in Memphis, Tennessee. After the social event and the perform- ance of the mock wedding ceremony, it was ascertained that the individual who had performed the wedding ceremony was legally authorized to do so on account of being sheriff of the county. This was in 1865 and the newly wedded couple made their home in Memphis until Mr. Von Hiestand's death in 1869. Three children were born of this marriage: Charles, at home with his mother; Elihu, and Hugh, deceased.
While a member of the Evansville Conference, the Rev. Armstrong saw Mrs. Von Hiestand's photograph on the wall of a home in Evansville where he was a guest, while attending the conference meeting and then and there decided and declared that if he ever married again he could be happy with the original of the picture for his wife. Strange to relate,
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ten years later, when Mrs. Von Hiestand was called to Evansville from her Southern home to attend the burial services of her sister, the twain met, loved at sight, and were married. The marriage was a happy and prosperous one and each was in perfect accord during the many years of their married life.
Mrs. Armstrong has always been active in literary and charitable works and devotes a great part of her time and her income to assisting unfortunate and dependent women who are in need of a sister's or a mother's care. She and Mrs. Delavgerne started the first reading room in Clinton, which was the beginning of the present splendid public li- brary. She was the instigator of the first Women's Christian Temperance Union in Henry County and has always been interested in good works of a civic character. Mrs. Armstrong has two grandchildren, Margaret Ellen and Jane Taylor. She has one great grandchild, Merry Christmas, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Christmas of Cleveland, Mississippi. She is a remarkably intelligent and well-read lady who is well preserved for her age. Her beautiful home is filled with curios, and a splendid library through which one could browse for hours and be entertained. Mrs. Armstrong takes a keen interest in every-day affairs and is devoted to her home city.
J. E. Adkins, proprietor of "Violet Vale Farm" in Bear Creek town- ship, Henry County, is making a success as a breeder of Leghorn poultry. The principal output of this farm is eggs and poultry and Mr. Adkins keeps only the purest bred Leghorns. At this writing (April, 1918) Mr. Adkins has a flock of 425 hens, the average egg production of which will exceed twenty-one dozen daily, an output which brings in a substan- tial income each year. The Adkins farm consists of sixty acres and is well improved with a pretty residence, good buildings and fencing. Mr. Adkins is also engaged in the breeding of Holstein cattle, a department of animal husbandry in which he has just begun.
J. E. Adkins was born June 11, 1880, on a farm in Clinton township, northeast of La Due, and is the son of H. Burt and Nannie (West) Adkins, natives of Missouri and Kentucky, respectively.
H. B. Adkins, who now lives retired at La Due, Missouri, was born October 8, 1860, in Davis township, Henry County, and is the son of John D. and Eliza (Hutchinson) Adkins. John D. Adkins was the son of John Adkins, a pioneer settler of Henry County. John D. and Eliza Adkins
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were parents of seven children of whom three are living: Tilden, Kansas City, Missouri; Mrs. Alice May Laver, Joplin, Missouri; and H. B. Adkins. After the death of John D. Adkins in 1878, his widow married Thomas Botkins, and bore him a daughter, Mrs. Kate Stevens, living near La Due. When he became of age, H. B. Adkins began doing for himself and pur- chased his first farm in 1883. He is owner of 230 acres of land in Clin- ton township which he cultivated until his retirement in 1912.
H. B. Adkins was married in 1880 to Miss Anna West, who was born in Kentucky, in February, 1862, the daughter of Felix and Letitia West, who located in Henry County in 1868. To H. B. and Anna Adkins have been born five children: J. Edward, of this review; Mrs. Nettie May Cromer, Fairview township; Archie Lee, died in infancy; Fred, a farmer in Clinton township; Mrs. Pansy May Wilson, on the home place in Clinton township.
J. E. Adkins received his education at Independence district school and began farming on his own account in 1900. For seven years he oper- ated rented land successfully, and then purchased his present home place of sixty acres. He was married in 1900 to Miss Iva Selby, a daughter of Thomas Selby. Six children have been born of this marriage, three of whom are living: Thora, Vera Glendella and Vernon Glendon (twins), two died in infancy; Retha died at the age of six years.
Mr. Adkins is a Democrat in politics and is a member of the local school board and the County Council of Defense. He and Mrs. Adkins are members of the Baptist Church. He is fraternally connected with the Woodmen of the World, La Due, Missouri.
Edwin M. Reavis, deceased, pioneer of Bear Creek township, was born in Kentucky, October 13, 1830, and departed this life in Henry County, March 30, 1882. He was the son of Edwin M. Reavis of Bowling Green, Kentucky. Ewdin M. Reavis was married in Texas in the fall of 1858 to Mary Margaret Hunt, born November 29, 1836, in Saline County, Mis- souri, the daughter of William and Azubah Hunt, an account of whom is given in connection with the sketch of E. B. Hunt, of Walker township. Soon after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Reavis came to Henry County and lived for a few years upon the farm he rented of E. B. Hunt until 1865. They then bought a farm of 100 acres of Joseph Capehart. This farm has been divided since Mr. Reavis' death and the home place, which is one of the prettiest improved places in Henry County, consists of sixty
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acres. Formerly there was a large orchard on the place, but several seasons of drought have played havoc with the trees. During the Civil War the family suffered from the depredations of Jayhawkers and lost part of their live stock.
The children born to Edwin M. and Mary Reavis are as follows: Elizabeth C., born August 8, 1859, died 1875; Susan M., William, and Sun (triplets) died in infancy, born August 2, 1861, the former of whom died November 11, 1867; William E. Reavis, at home. Mrs. Mary Jane Chrissman, a widow, living at La Due, Missouri; John A., born April 6, 1865, died August 24, 1866; James B., born October 28, 1866, died No- vember 4, 1867; Nancy E., wife of R. C. Grigsby, La Due, Missouri; Alice C., William E., at home with their mother; Joseph H., Drady, North Da- kota; Elmer S., California; infant son, born and died December 6, 1879; Florence M., born August 6, 1882, died November 4, 1897; Joseph H., born September 6, 1872, died November 29, 1918. Mrs. Reavis has six grandchildren: Edwin, Winona, Glenbourne, and Joseph, children of Joseph Reavis. Elmer S. has a daughter, Florence. Nannie Grigsby has one son, Cecil.
Mrs. Reavis and her son are members of the Bear Creek Methodist Church. In the early days she attended the Old Adobe Church, a picture of which through the courtesy of Miss Reavis is reproduced in this volume. The old-timers whom she knew in the early days were Mrs. Kintner, Mrs. Nick Erhart, and Mrs. Cleghorn, who were the first she met in this part of Henry county. She recalls that they would attend divine service at the Adobe Church, coming on horseback, and that the prairie grass which grew so luxuriantly on the unbroken prairie land was as high as the horse's back. Deer and game were plentiful and there were great droves of wild turkeys, quail, and prairie chickens, all of which have disappeared with the settling up of the country. Mrs. Reavis has many old curios and family relics which have been handed down to her from her ancestors, among them being an old walnut chest which was given her by Grandma Hunt, and was made by Isaac Whitaker in 1795. This chest was made for his daughter, May Whitaker, in North Carolina. He was Mary M. Hunt Reavis' great-great uncle.
Joseph B. Nold .- The section of country tributary to Montrose is one of the richest and most productive sections of Missouri and is noted for its fine farms and beautiful and well-kept homes. Combined with a rich soil, well watered, and which is highly productive, is an excellent
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class of industrious and ambitious farmers who are constantly endeavor- ing to improve their properties and to make the surroundings more at- tractive to the eye and more comfortable as places of residence. The farm of Joseph B. Nold of Bear Creek township just east of Montrose is a splendid example of what ambition and industry will accomplish in the course of a few years. This farm consists of 160 acres in the home place and 100 acres which Mr. Nold has recently sold to his brother. The land has on it fifty acres of timber, bordering on Bear Creek, and is well watered at all seasons of the year. Mr. Nold has a fine farm residence, a large barn covered with iron sheeting, sixty by seventy-two feet, two silos twelve by thirty feet, one of which is built of glazed tile. Mr. Nold is a breeder and feeder of shorthorn cattle, and feeds large numbers of cattle and hogs. For a number of years he has been engaged in the buying and shipping of live stock and handles from 50 to 100 loads annually.
Joseph B. Nold was born at Pilot Grove, Cooper County, Missouri, in 1868 and is the son of Albert Nold, who was born in Germany in 1843 and accompanied his parents to America in 1850. The Nolds first settled at Cincinnati, Ohio and then moved to Illinois, making a settlement in Cooper County, Missouri, in 1868. Charles Nold, a brother, brought the first threshing outfit to Cooper County. Albert Nold has prospered as he deserved and accumulated a farm of 240 acres in Cooper County, near Pilot Grove. He also owned another tract of seventy-five acres, but has recently sold his Cooper County land and moved to Montrose, Missouri, in August, 1918. His wife was Catherine Felton, born in Germany in 1847, the daughter of Bertram Felton, who came to America in 1850, and set- tled in Cooper County, Missouri, during the Civil War. Bushwhackers robbed him of everything that he owned during the war, and he had a very hard time of it for a number of years. There were eleven children born to Albert and Catherine Nold, as follows: Joseph B., Max, Edward, Albert, John, Lee, and William, all living in Henry County; Mrs. Lena Neckerman, Mrs. Katie Grotzinger, Mrs. Anna Stoecklein, living in Cooper County ; Mrs. Freda Brzuchalski, Henry County, Missouri.
In 1893 Joseph B. Nold began his own career in Cooper County, Mis- souri, and became owner of a farm in that county. He disposed of his hold- ings there in 1909 and came to Montrose, Henry County, and invested in 160 acres of land to which he added 100 acres. He is of the opinion that there is no better section of country in Missouri than the Montrose neigh- borhood.
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Mr. Nold was married in 1893 to Miss Mary A. Neckerman, who was born in Cooper County, Missouri, the daughter of Andrew and Barbara Neckerman, natives of Germany, who were pioneer settlers of that county. Mr. and Mrs. Nold have five children: Albert A., aged eighteen years; Lena, aged sixteen years ; Lovina, aged fourteen ; Frank, twelve years old; and Theresia, aged ten years. Mr. and Mrs. Nold are also rearing an orphan girl, Christina, and have an adopted son, Andrew, aged twenty-eight years, now a private in the National Army, in France.
The Republican party has always had the support of Joseph B. Nold, and he is now serving as trustee of Bear Creek township. He and his family are members of the Montrose Catholic Church. He is fraternally affiliated with the Knights of Columbus, the Catholic Knights of America, and takes a prominent and influential part in the deliberations of these bodies. Mr. Nold is universally recognized as a citizen of honor and integrity and his place among the really successful men of Henry County is well established.
Charles W. Engeman, retired farmer and vice-president of the Mont- rose Farmers' and Merchants' Bank, Montrose, Missouri, was born in Warren County, Missouri, in 1853 and is the son of Henry and Mary (Fischer) Engeman, natives of Germany who immigrated to America in 1833, and first located in Warren County, Missouri. In 1872 they came to Henry County and settled near Appleton City on the Henry-St. Clair County line. Henry Engeman was born in 1815 and died in 1885. Mary Engeman was born in 1846 and died in 1906. They were parents of ten children: August, lives near Germantown; Mrs. Dena Danzebrink, a widow, living at Montrose; Henry, deceased; Charles W .; Mrs. Mary Hillerman, living east of Germantown; Mrs. Lena Thompson, a widow, living with the subject of this review; Anna, died at the age of eleven years; Louisa, now Sister Violante, New York; Christina, deceased; and John Engeman, Montrose, Missouri.
Charles Engeman accompanied his parents to Henry County in 1872, and in the spring of 1875 he went to Nevada, and was employed for three years upon an irrigated ranch near Winnemucca, Paradise Valley, Humboldt County, that State. In 1878 he returned to Montrose and re- sided here for two years. He returned to Nevada in 1880 and remained there for two years. He then came home and resided with his parents. In 1897, Mr. Engeman purchased his present farm of seventy-two acres and has since been engaged in farming and coal mining.
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Seventy acres of the Engeman farm are leased for coal mining pur- poses and the coal is obtained by the "stripping" process of mining. Several thousand tons have been mined from the land and coal has been taken from the place for the past twenty years. During 1917 there were mined on the Engeman tract a total of 2,944 bushels of coal.
Mr. Engeman is an independent Democrat and is a member of the Montrose Catholic Church and the Knights of Columbus. He has been connected with the Farmers' and Merchants' Bank of Montrose since 1907.
Fred H. Heiman .- Although Fred H. Heiman, a successful farmer of Deepwater township, is what we might call a newcomer to Henry County, he has taken his place in the civic life of the Montrose community and is fast becoming one of the leaders in this section of the county. Endowed with a high mentality, a progressive and enterprising spirit which has been further developed by a good education, Mr. Heiman is one of the best informed citizens of the county and an excellent farmer.
Fred H. Heiman was born in Damiansville, Illinois, January 14, 1868, and is the son of John Herman and Mary (Santel) Heiman, the former of whom was a native of Illinois and the latter of Iowa. John Heiman was of German descent and followed agricultural pursuits during his en- tire life. In 1887 he left Illinois and went to Ottawa County, Kansas, where for two years he lived on a farm near Delphos. In 1889, he went to Woodson County, Kansas, and made this county his home until his death in 1908. His widow still resides in Woodson County. There are nine living children in the Heiman family: August B., an oil man in Cali- fornia; Rosa M., wife of Herman Bruegeman, Woodson county, Kansas ; Agatha, at home with her mother; Martin, Hooker, Oklahoma; William, Iola, Kansas; George A., at home with his mother; Edward N., Woodson County, Kansas; John H., of Humboldt, Kansas, and Fred H., subject of this sketch.
After receiving his education in the Effingham County high school at Altamont, Illinois, Mr. Heiman was employed in a retail store for a time. He then became a farmer and joined his people in Kansas. He went to Ellis County, Kansas, and taught school for twelve terms, in all, eight terms of which were taught in Ellis County, and four terms in Woodson County. While teaching, during the latter four terms, he fol- lowed farming in Woodson County. He came to Missouri in 1903, and rented a farm, five miles east of his present place until 1909, at which time he purchased his farm of 160 acres south of Montrose in Deepwater
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township. Mr. Heiman has erected splendid improvements on this tract, including a handsome residence of eight rooms and pantry, a large barn, forty-eight by forty feet, a granary, twenty-six by thirty-four feet, a hog house, eight by twenty-four feet, a sheep shed eight by thirty-four feet sufficient to shelter fifty-six head of sheep, a cow shed 26 by 28 feet, and silo. Mr. Heiman also raises Duroc Jersey hogs for the market. A large windmill on the place pumps a sufficient supply of water.
On April 4, 1894, Fred H. Heiman and Miss Annie M. Swaters were united in marriage. Mrs. Annie M. Heiman is the daughter of John Swaters, a well-to-do resident of Deepwater township, and a sketch of whom appears in this volume. Nine children have been born to Fred H. and Annie M. Heiman: Regina, wife of John A. Nold, northeast of Mont- rose; Cornelius H., Leo, Martin, Rosa, Ferdinand, Loretta, John, Helen, all at home with their parents. Mrs. Regina Nold has two children, Lo- raine and Dorothy Nold.
Mr. Heiman is a Democrat and his family are members of the Church of the Immaculate Conception at Montrose. He is affiliated with the Catholic Mutual Benefit Association and Knights of Columbus.
Frank Wagner, owner of a nicely improved farm of 106.66 acres of land in Deepwater township, south of Montrose, was born in Germany in 1846, near the Swiss boundary line, and he naturally belongs more to the Swiss nationality than to the German. He is a son of Frank and Catherine Wagner, who emigrated from their native country to America in 1852 and resided in Illinois for the next seven years. In the fall of 1859 the family located in Henry County, Missouri, and Frank Wagner, the father, followed his trade of carpenter and builder, and cabinet maker. He made his first home in Bogard township on a farm which he culti- vated in addition to following his trade in various parts of the county. He located in Deepwater township in 1872 and purchased a tract of un- improved prairie land consisting of 160 acres. In the course of time he added another quarter section which, upon his death, was divided among his three sons, Frank, Joseph, and Jacob, who all live on adjoining farms at the Cross Roads south of Montrose.
Frank Wagner, subject of this review, placed all of the improvements upon his land and has tilled his acreage successfully up to recent years or until his retirement from actual labor in the fields. Mr. Wagner was married in 1874 to Mary Schissler (born 1852, died 1891), a native of Deepwater township, and the daughter of David Schissler, a Henry County
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pioneer. Mr. Wagner has reared eight children out of ten born to this marriage: Kate, wife of Joseph Kaumans, living in Wyoming; Joseph, eldest of the family, lives in Kansas; Henry lives in Kansas; Mary, wife of William Hueser, who is tilling the home place, has seven children, Lenora, John, Ida, Loretta, Margaret, Bernard and Bertha; John lives at Rock Island, Illinois; Mrs. Annie Montague, resides at Grand Island, Nebraska; Mrs. Josephine Currie, lives at Rock Island, Illinois ; Herman is a farmer in Deepwater township; Frank is deceased.
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