USA > Missouri > Henry County > History of Henry County, Missouri > Part 40
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Mr. Wagner is a Democrat. He is a member of the Montrose Catho- lic Church and is affiliated with the Knights of Columbus. His work here has been well done. He has reared a splendid family and accumu- lated a sufficient competence to care for his declining years, and has the honor of being one of the real old settlers of Henry County, and being universally respected and esteemed by all who know him.
Charles H. Martin, who is managing the Martin estate of 420 acres in Fairview township, Henry County, was born in Clinton, Missouri, the son of James B. Martin, one of the widely-known old settlers of Mar- shall Creek and a Union veteran now deceased. The Martin farm is situated on Marshall Creek, which, according to one of the old settlers who formerly resided in this neighborhood, should have been called "Jim" Creek on account of the fact that James or Jim Kirk, James or Jim Plecker, and James or Jim Henry Dunning, settled on this creek in the early days. However, the creek received the name of "Marshall" and the name has ever held.
James B. Martin was born March 24, 1838 and departed this life on June 29, 1910. He was born in Henry County, Illinois but was reared in Kentucky. He was the son of one of the old-time school teachers known everywhere as Uncle Billy Martin. When the Civil War broke out, James B. Martin enlisted at Louisville, Kentucky, in the Tenth Ken- tucky Volunteer Infantry and served for three years and four months with the Union Army. He was wounded at the battle of Chickamauga and lay in the Government hospital for eighteen months. The wound crippled him for life, a shot or minnie ball taking effect in his left heel. January 1, 1865, he came to Clinton, Missouri, and sometime later swam the Deep- water when it was filled with ice in order to escape from a band of guerillas who were still attempting to wage war against Union people. Edward A. Martin, a brother, preceded him to this county and Ed- ward was tending cattle on the north side of the Deepwater at the time.
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James B. Martin was a noted swimmer who at one time swam the Ten- nessee River while foraging after roasting ears. He was carried a mile down the river by the swift current with a companion named Alex Moore.
Soon after coming to Henry County, he was married to Ann Eliza Bridges, daughter of Charles Bridges of the Marshall Creek neighbor- hood. The Bridges came from Springfield, Illinois, to Henry County. Ann Eliza Martin was born in 1848 and died in 1915. Six children were born to James B. and Ann Eliza Martin, as follow: Charles H., subject of this review; Edward A., Coffeyville, Kansas; Mrs. Jessie A. Wolford, Fairview township; Emery, living on the Martin home place; James Claude, living on the home place; Clifford B. makes his home with Charles Martin.
James B. Martin was an independent Republican. He was a mem- ber of the Christian Church and was affiliated with the Free Masons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Grand Army of the Re- public. James B. Martin was a Henry County citizen worth while. He was an honest, upright, and industrious man of affairs who had the respect and esteem of a wide circle of friends and acquaintances through- out the county.
James Ramsey Wilson .- The basis of all true history is biography. History is but the narrative of the accomplishments of a body of people as a whole; the individual is the doer and it is necessary in the presenta- tion of a true history of Henry County, to present the salient facts in the lives of the men who have made possible the upbuilding of this im- portant section of Missouri. James Ramsey Wilson, late of Deepwater township, was a pioneer of this county who contributed more than the ordi- nary man to the settlement and development of Henry County. His sons and daughters today occupy important places in the State, and are among the leaders of the communities where they reside and have resided.
James Ramsey Wilson was born in Maysville, Kentucky, in January, 1803, and died in Henry County, Missouri, in June, 1897. He was the son of James Wilson, who was born in the North of Ireland, and was a son of James Wilson, of Scotland, who moved from his native land to Ireland and there settled upon a large estate, which was named Bull Valley Castle. He had several children, among them being James Wilson, father of the subject of this review. James Wilson received a good edu- cation and during his twentieth year, he immigrated to America. The
EDWIN WILSON
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occasion of his leaving the old home in Ireland was owing to his disgust with the methods of dispensing justice in practice in the courts of his native country. One particular flagrant piece of injustice which he wit- nessed so incensed him that upon going home, he informed his father that he was not desirous of living in a country with injustice so rampant, and that he intended crossing the ocean to settle in America. His father gave his consent and supplied him with funds sufficient to last him for one year in the new country. Upon his arrival at New York, the captain of his ship recommended his services to a ship chandler or shipping merch- ant, as bookkeeper, the young man's skill as a penman having favorably impressed the ship captain. He immediately took up his duties and for many years was engaged in the mercantile business in various parts of the country, becoming successful, although his fortunes were variable. There were times when he was possessed of considerable capital and others when he was forced to start with little or no capital. One instance, the loss of a cargo of cotton valued at $40,000 and which cost him but $10,000, serves as an illustration of the varying fortunes of his career. This happened in New Orleans and it was not long until he had paid back every dollar of his losses. He became a merchant at Maysville, Ken- tucky, and was there married to Elizabeth Bailey, the daughter of Col. Samuel Bailey, who had come to Kentucky from Virginia and purchased a large tract of land in the vicinity from Simon Kenton. About 1812, Colonel Bailey settled near the mouth of the Ohio River and with his wife and children stayed at the hotel kept by Captain Dennis in Paducah. They moved to their new location aboard a Government steamboat con- fiscated from Aaron Burr at the time his ill fated plans for founding a great empire in the Southwest came to naught. Col. Samuel Bailey was killed by Indians a few miles above Bailey's Station, a frontier settlement which he had established on his land. He was attacked by a band of the savages and fought to the death. The Indians took his body and placed it in a new cabin near the scene of the crime. Later, Light Horse Harry Lee led a party to recover the body and give it proper burial near the site where he met his death opposite Rush Creek Island on the Kentucky shore of the Ohio River.
James Wilson did not remain long in Kentucky. Indians becoming numerous and on the warpath and the War of 1812 raging at the time, making it unsafe for settlers in the new country, he took his wife and children and went on horseback to country of the Kanawha River in
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what is now West Virginia. Here he engaged in the manufacture of salt in partnership with a Frenchman named Savaryn and made a perma- nent home in West Virginia.
James Ramsey Wilson was married in West Virginia to Susan Everett, born in Guyandotte County, Virginia, in 1811 and died in Henry County, Missouri, in 1875. She was a daughter of Col. John Everett of Guyandotte, Virginia, who married Miss Sallie Woodson of Charlottesville, Virginia. Col. John Everett was an officer of Virginia militia and was was the son of John Everett, a soldier of the Revolution who was noted for the depths of his patriotism. It is said of him that he refused a large grant of Government land as payment for his services in behalf of American Independence with these words: "I did not fight for land; I fought for liberty." The wife of John Everett was Miss Sallie Deadman, a daughter of Captain Deadman, who also fought in the Revolutionary War on the American side. Mrs. Sallie (Woodson) Everett was the daughter of Tral- ton or Tarlton Woodson who married a Miss Shepherd.
James Ramsey Wilson left Cabell County, West Virginia, in 1840 and came to Henry County, selecting a tract of land in the southeastern part of Bear Creek township near the Teays settlement. He removed his family to the site of his new home in 1841 and for four years made his home in Marshall Creek. In 1845 he settled permanently in Deepwater township, erecting some time later one of the finest and largest houses in the county, modelel after an old Virginia home. This home is still stand- ing and is the place of residence of Miss Bettie Wilson, a daughter. The estate which he built up has been operated by his sons as a corpora- tion under the name of J. H. Wilson and Brothers and has prospered during all these years.
To James Ramsey and Susan (Everett) Wilson were born the follow- ing children: Joseph H. Wilson, a widely-known farmer of Deepwater township, a sketch of whom appears in this volume; Mrs. Mary E. Houx, Warrensburg, Missouri, widow of Rev. J. H. Houx, late of Warrensburg, and who was a noted pioneer preacher of the Methodist Episcopal faith; John M. Wilson, deceased; Capt. Edwin Wilson, deceased; Susan Eliza- beth, or Bettie Wilson, residing on the Wilson Home Place; William W. Wilson ; and Richard B. Wilson, postmaster of Montrose, Missouri, a sketch of whom appears in this volume.
Edwin Wilson left home when in his eighteenth year and enlisted in the Southern Army as a member of Parsons' Brigade. Although
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small for his age he never shirked duty and was always found in the thickest of the battles and struggles in which his command was engaged. He became a valuable assistant to the field surgeons and was advised, on account of his skill in handling wounded men, to be- come a surgeon. After the surrender of Parsons' Brigade in Louisiana, he went to Texas and was first employed in sampling cotton. Opportun- ities for advancement came rapidly his way and he became a large land owner and cotton planter on his own account. He also became interested in banking and was vice-president of the American National Bank of Austin, Texas, at the time of his death. He was a leader in the commer- cial and civic life of his adopted State and associated with the leading figures of Texas. He had large interests in Texas and New Mexico. His death occurred at Austin, Texas, June 10, 1912, at the age of 68 years. He married Lulu Bailey Wilson, who bore him two children: Mrs. John Harris, Dallas, Texas; and Mrs. Welburn Hudson, of Austin, Texas.
John M. Wilson went West when seventeen years of age and became a gold and silver miner. His life story reads like a romance were it possible to record his travels and adventures among the mining camps of the Rockies, the Pacific Slope, Mexico, and the Andes of South America. For many years he was engaged in various mining enterprises in these sections and became wealthy. The various vicissitudes and fortunes of the gold miner were his. During his career he was associated with widely known mining men of the United States. He died at El Paso, Texas, February 4, 1914, aged seventy-seven years. His whole career was charac- terized by honorable and upright dealings, attributes which have been the heritage of the members of the Wilson family for generations. He was married in early life to Miss Marion W. Wright of Washington, D. C., and to this marriage were born three children: James Robert, liv- ing in New Mexico; Isabella Everett, wife of Nathan Foster, Fayette- ville, Arkansas, a veteran of the Spanish-American War; Mrs. Anna Cald- well, whose husband is a mining man of New Mexico.
William W. Wilson was born December 26, 1851, in Deepwater town- ship, and is the jolly batchelor brother of the family. He has always been engaged in farming and makes his home with his brother, Richard B. Wilson.
James Ramsey Wilson and wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal church and so lived their lives that a lasting and deep im- pression will be forever engraved in the annals of the county which they helped to create from an unbroken wilderness.
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Martin Vanburen Brown .- For over the long period of fifty-one years, Martin Vanburen Brown, one of the old pioneers of Deepwater township, has resided on his splendid country place southwest of Montrose. The Brown homestead is a handsome, old style Colonial residence, built of the finest hardwood lumber, prior to the Civil War era. The home itself has a beautiful setting, being at the apex of a long gentle slope of green lawn which is dotted with a fine grove of shade trees. Mr. Brown is owner of 800 acres of rich farm lands, 320 acres of which is comprised in his home place.
Martin V. Brown was born on a farm located eight miles west of Springfield, Illinois, on Spring Creek, March 4, 1837. He is the son of Reason D. Brown (born 1813, died 1885), who was the son of Joshua Brown, a native of Kentucky, and who was a pioneer settler in Illinois, locating there in the early twenties. Joshua Brown assisted in the rais- ing of the first house in the city of Springfield, Illinois, and was prominent in the early history of Springfield and vicinity. Reason D. Brown was married to Rachel Ernest (born 1815, died 1905), a daughter of Illinois pioneer parents. Reason D. Brown spent the last year of his long life on a farm, situated east of Appleton City, Missouri, and died there in 1885. He was father of twelve children, only two of whom are living: Martin Vanburen, and John D. of Deepwater township.
Martin V. Brown was reared in Illinois and enlisted in the ranks of hard workers when nineteen years of age. In 1861 he went to Idaho and was employed in the Salmon River mines for five years. During that time he earned and saved enough money to make a start on his own ac- count. After a trip home to Illinois, he came to Henry County, Missouri, in the spring of 1867, and purchased 700 acres of land at a cost of $13 per acre. This land was already improved but Mr. Brown has succeeded in adding to this acreage another 100 acres. He has done exceedingly well but attributes a great part of his success to the assistance and coun- sel of his capable wife.
On September 26, 1869, M. V. Brown and Miss Helen Cecil were united in marriage. Mrs. Helen (Cecil) Brown was born on a farm east of Clinton in Henry County in 1848, and is the daughter of Wilson and Henny Cecil, who came from Kentucky and settled in Henry County in 1837. This mar- riage has been blessed with five children: Allie, wife of Charles Campbell, a merchant at Montrose; Missouri; Ernie C., a well-known farmer of Walker township; Charles M., a farmer of Walker township, married
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Edna, daughter of Henry Oliver, and has three children, Cecil, Marie and Wilford; Helen, wife of J. Ed Dugan, Deepwater township, mother of two children, Wilfred and Martin Edward; Harry, living on the home place, married Clara, daughter of Robert Burns of Appleton City, Mis- souri, has a son, Robert Martin.
During his entire life since attaining his majority, Mr. Brown has been a consistent and faithful Democrat. He and his family are mem- bers of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. As a man and citizen there is none better in Henry County, and Mr. Brown is a typical gentleman of the old school. He is kindly disposed to all mankind and is spending the last years of his long life in comfortable and happy retirement, well content to shift the burden of the cultivation of his farms to younger shoulders. He is popular and is universally esteemed throughout the countryside.
Joseph F. Hibler .- For the past sixty-three years, Joe Hibler has been a resident of Henry County and is one of the typical, jolly, big- hearted old-timers of Missouri-the kind of men we have all read and heard about as typical of the true Missourian. During his boyhood days, Joe Hibler attended school in an old log school house, a converted pio- neer's log shack with cracks between the logs big enough to throw a boy through if the schoolmaster so minded. The boys in Joe's younger days were every whit as mischievous and full of tricks as the present- day boys, and it is probable that the schoolmaster found occasion to throw the boys through the cracks when they were mean. This school house had a puncheon floor, and slab seats. Along one side of the room was a big six-foot fireplace which was kept filled with big logs during the cold winter days. A roaring fire was kept up but the fire only warmed one side of the school boys. The wind whistled through the cracks and kept the air stirring in the room at all times. The only light in the building was obtained by sawing out a length of log about eight feet. This aperture let in both air and light. Joe Hibler has seen thousands of deer on the plains of Henry County in his youthful days and his father would shoot them from the doorway of their home. The nearest trading post was at old Germantown and Johnston in Bates County, then called "Hard- scrabble" by the pioneers in the old days. Joe had a partner who as- sisted him in various misdeeds and it was a favorite pastime of theirs to entice a bunch of cattle near a hornet's nest and stir up the hornets. Another pastime was robbing the apple cellars of their relatives.
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Joe Hibler was born in Osage County, Missouri, in 1849 and is the son of Henry Hibler, one of the best-known of the early pioneers of this section of Missouri.
Henry Hibler was born in 1822 in St. Louis County, Missouri, and was living in St. Louis when it was but a small river village, peopled by Frenchmen and adventurers from all parts of the world. He and his parents were pioneers of Osage County, where Henry Hibler became a live stock dealer on a large scale. The live stock market was far away at St. Louis and the trip was a long and tiresome one to make. Mr. Hibler was persuaded by his neighbors to drive their cattle to St. Louis, sell them and bring back the proceeds. He soon got into the business and handled the cattle on commission. Taking assistants with him he would make the trip whenever a sufficient number of cattle were ready for the market. He would frequently drive a big drove of turkeys to the same market. On the return trip he would carry the money in saddle bags and no precaution was necessary to guard against thieves. People were so honest that upon arriving at a settler's cabin for the night the men would throw the saddle bags filled with money down on the floor in a corner of the cabin and pay no more attention to it, until ready to leave the next morning. When he arrived home, Mr. Hibler would distribute the money among the neighbors. In 1855, he settled in Henry County, and during the early days made frequent trips to Kansas, en- gaged in the cattle business. He purchased a farm, located just a mile north of where Joe Hibler now lives, in Walker township. His first home was a log cabin. He prospered as a farmer and stockman and in later years bought a home at Eldorado Springs, Missouri. He died in 1900 at Lamar, Missouri. Henry Hibler was three times married; his first wife was Nancy McQueen, who died in 1851, leaving children as follows: Samuel died in the Confederate service while a soldier in the Civil War; Mrs. Lottie Fisher, Walker township; Joseph F., subject of this review; Frank, a bachelor living on his brother's farm; Mrs. Susie March, a widow living in Davis township. His second wife was Mrs. Pliney Parks who died in 1857, leaving three children by a first marriage: Ann, Arthur, and Sallie Parks. His third wife was Mrs. Mary Harper, mother of two children by her first marriage: John Shelley, died at Dallas, Texas, in 1916; Lizzie Shelley, living in Oklahoma; and William T., Samuel, Walter and Annie Hibler.
In 1870, Joseph F. Hibler began life for himself upon seventy acres
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of land which his father gave him. He improved this tract as best he could at the time, building a slab fence around the farm and carrying the slabs one-fourth of a mile on his shoulders. He also built some rail fence which was later supplanted by a hedge fence which he set out. He has created a beautiful farm from prairie land and has an attractive place of 111 acres on Camp Branch Creek adjacent to the Hopewell Church in Walker township.
Mr. Hibler was married in 1870 to Cordelia, a daughter of Samuel Wilson, a pioneer of Henry County, concerning whom the reader is refer- red to the sketch of Judge William M. Wilson in this volume.
Five children have blessed this marriage: Mattie, wife of Charles Pfost, resides near Cheyenne 'Wells, Colorado; Mildred, wife of Ellis Greenhalge, Walker township; Riley Amos lives in Kansas; Henry Wil- son, lives in Kansas City ; and John, deceased.
Mr. Hibler has consistently voted the Democratic ticket since attain- ing his majority. He and Mrs. Hibler are members of the Hopewell Cumberland Presbyterian Church.
David Wesley Clark .- Lovers of the picturesque would take delight in climbing the hill whereon the lifetime home of David Wesley Clark of Deepwater township is located. A picturesque home, a part of which is the original log cabin built by David Clark, his father, long ago, is situ- ated upon one of the highest points in Henry County, and is surrounded by large cedar trees. Twenty miles away the church spires and the court house dome of Clinton can be seen. The city of Butler also twenty miles distant to the west can be seen on a clear day. Other towns in the neighborhood can be seen. David Wesley Clark was born in Deep- water township, in the Clark log cabin, February 17, 1863, and is the son of David Clark.
David Clark, the elder, was born in Virginia, near Richmond, May 12, 1825, and died April 22, 1911. He was the son of Joseph Clark. David, Sr., came to Missouri in 1853 and entered forty acres of the land now owned by his son, David Wesley, built a cabin and resided thereon until his death. His wife was Sarah Jackson, born in Lafayette County, Mis- souri, where David had located with his father in 1840. Prior to com- ing to Henry County they had lived in Lafayette and Johnson counties. Sarah Clark was born in 1835 and died January 22, 1890. There were nine children in the Clark family, eight of whom are living: J. W., Louisa, Sarah Elizabeth, Lucy Ann, deceased; David Wesley, Mary E., Charles
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M., Lillian, Louis Bennett. David Clark was a highly respected citizen of Henry County and was well and favorably known in his home neighbor- hood. He served in the Missouri State Troops during the Civil War and was in many hard-fought battles.
Born and reared on the Clark homestead, David Wesley Clark has spent all of his days on the farm. He is the owner of 140 acres of land which is situated in the exact center of section 16 and adjoins the Dahl- man land on the north, both farms being reached by a private roadway. He was first married to Rebecca J. Hardy, October 1, 1890, who bore him two children: Lena, Montrose, Missouri; and David, at home with his father . Mrs. Rebecca J. Clark departed this life September 16, 1908. Mr. Clark's second marriage occurred December 25, 1911, to Mrs. Ellen Chis- ham, a widow, and mother of two children: Eunola, wife of Frank Schaffer, living in Kansas; and William Chisham, a farmer in Deepwater township.
Mr. Clark is a Republican, and is of that kindly, intelligent, type of Missourian of the old school who possesses so many excellent qualities which makes and retains friends for all time He loves his county, his State, his neighbors, his home and his fellowmen.
Gerhart Anton Dahlman .- The late Gerhart Anton Dahlman of Deep- water township was born in Westphalia, Germany, February 2, 1832, and departed this life at his home near Germantown, June 1, 1910. He was the son of Herman and Mary Ann Dahlman who lived all of their lives in the land of their birth. Accompanied by his sister, Mrs. Henry Kalwei, Mr. Dahlman emigrated from Germany in 1869 and arrived at German- town, Henry County, Missouri, in May, 1869. He stayed at Germantown for nine years and was employed by Anton Mucke and Joseph Schmedding. He purchased his farm in 1872 and moved a house from Germantown to his farm. In 1878 he returned to Germany for his sweetheart, to whom he was married in 1878, and at once set sail for his home in America. He married Annie Marie Krimphoff, who was born in Westphalia, Germany, September 2, 1855, the daughter of Henry and Mary Elizabeth (Rene- kamp) Krimphoff, both of whom spent all of their lives in Germany. The father died in 1880 and the mother in 1877. Mr. Dahlman was ably assisted in the work of improving his farm by his devoted wife who assisted him in the farm work, set out trees, hedges, and vines and they created a beautiful home. The Dahlman farm consists of eighty acres with thir- teen acres of timber land in addition.
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