USA > Missouri > Henry County > History of Henry County, Missouri > Part 42
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James A. Moyer .- For over sixty years James A. Moyer, pioneer farmer of Clinton township, has resided on his homestead and has im-
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proved his farm from prairie and wilderness into a rich and productive country estate. During this long period he has seen a great county and State in the making and has witnessed all of the wonderful changes that have taken place in this western country. "Uncle Jim," as he is affec- tionately known, has likewise improved with time and has kept pace with this great development. He was born in Illinois December 25, 1841, and is the son of Frederick and Polly (Hall) Moyer, natives of North Carolina and Virginia, respectively.
Frederick Moyer was born in 1794 and died in 1856. He was the son of John Moyer, who was of North Carolina German stock. Polly Hall was born near Jamestown, Virginia, and was the daughter of a Revolutionary soldier who served seven years in the Army of Indepen- dence. Frederick Moyer was a pioneer in Edgar County, Illinois, and his father settled on Tiger Creek in Pike County, Illinois. Frederick Moyer died in Illinois and after his death the widowed mother and family came to Missouri in 1858. While the war was raging she took her family and returned to the home folks in Illinois. She was accidentally killed by a threshing machine in 1863.
James A. Moyer migrated to Missouri in 1858 and first settled upon a rented farm and lived in a small log cabin which the previous owner had erected. He eventually settled on the Levy place, which had been entered from the Government by his brother, John S. Moyer, who re- turned to Illinois in August, 1861, and came back to Henry County in 1865. James A. returned to Henry County, Missouri, in 1866 and settled upon his present home place in 1867. During the many years in which Mr. Moyer has resided on his place he has constantly been improving it in different ways. A fine growing orchard planted in 1905 is his special pride. Mr. Moyer's farm embraces 300 acres in all.
July 21, 1867, he was united in marriage with Miss Margaret A. Plecker, who was born in Augusta County, Virginia, June 22, 1845. The history of the Plecker family and an account of the parents of Mrs. Margaret Moyer appears in the sketch of James F. Plecker in this vol- ume. Six children were born of this marriage, three of whom are living: Hattie, wife of W. Scott Mitchell, a sketch of whom appears in this volume; Mrs. Grace Ringo, living in Oklohoma, mother of two children, Caroline and Eugene; Mrs. Viola Romine, Clinton, Missouri, mother of one child, Frank Romine.
Mr. Moyer is a pronounced Democrat and has firmly and consistently
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supported the Democratic party since attaining his majority. He is a well preserved gentleman for his age, but has turned much of the farm work over to younger heads who are tilling his acreage for him.
Walter Scott Mitchell .- For half a century the Mitchell family have been prominently identified with the history of Henry County. Walter Scott Mitchell, prosperous and progressive farmer and stockman of Clin- ton township, is one of the best known citizens of the county. He was born in Perry County, Ohio, not far from the city of Zanesville, in June, 1867, and is the son of John and Eliza (Evans) Mitchell, the latter of whom is a daughter of one of the oldest pioneer women of western Mis- souri, now being past ninety-two years of age.
John Mitchell was born in Perry County, Ohio, and was the son of George Mitchell. Both father and son came to Henry County in search of homes in 1868, the former settling two miles north of Clinton on what is known as the Keck farm. John Mitchell resided in Henry County on his farm near Clinton until 1879, when he located in St. Clair County, dying there in 1882. He was father of six children: Walter Scott, sub- ject of this sketch ; Charles H., Kansas City, Missouri ; Edward, deceased; Frank, Cedar Rapids, Iowa ; George, Brownington, Missouri; Lee, a butcher of Deepwater, Missouri. The mother of these children is seventy years of age and resides in Deepwater. Her mother is Mrs. Lovina (Evans) Hopkins, who resides in Deepwater, Missouri and is well past the age of ninety-two years.
W. Scott Mitchell was reared and educated in Henry and St. Clair Counties and he returned to Henry County after the death of his father in 1882. He first located near Deepwater and purchased his first land in Clinton township in 1914. Mr. Mitchell is owner of 180 acres of land but is farming a total of 230 acres, a part of the Moyer land being in his charge. He erected a handsome farm home in 1917 which is located on one of the main highways leading directly north to Clinton, but a few miles distant.
In 1890 Mr. Mitchell was married to Miss Hattie Lee Moyer, a daugh- ter of James A. Moyer, pioneer settler of Clinton township, a biography of whom appears in this volume of Henry County history. The follow- ing children have been born of this marriage: John Arthur, is now a private in the National Army, stationed at Camp Fremont, California ; Violet, wife of Henry Braun, mother of one child, Mildred; Uel Francis,
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named in honor of the author of this history, at home with his parents ; Ora Lee, Margaret E., Wade Sherman or W. S., Jr., at home.
Mr. Mitchell is a thorough Democrat who has generally taken an active part in Henry County political affairs and is now serving as county judge. He and Mrs. Mitchell and the four oldest children are members of the Baptist Church.
John Braun, of Clinton township, was born in Wittenburg, Germany, April 9, 1859, and was of high German stock, being a son of Jacob Braun, who came to America and located in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1876. John Braun learned the trade of cigar maker and followed his trade in Kansas City for a time. After his marriage in 1882 he located in Wyandotte County, Kansas, on a farm and then settled in Johnson County, Kansas, where he followed the pursuit of agriculture until his removal to Henry County, Missouri, in 1893. Mr. and Mrs. Braun bought eighty acres of land in Clinton township and their first home in this county was a log house which was later supplanted by a handsome residence. On ac- count of the poor health from which Mr. Braun suffered for twenty-two years, he was unable to do much work of any consequence, the task of improving a farm and making a home for the family fell to Mrs. Braun. Mr. Braun was taken seriously ill in 1895, and it became necessary to remove him to a State institution.
John Braun was married on March 4, 1882, to Kathrine Rentchler, who was born in Wittenburg, Germany, May 20, 1858, the daughter of George and Barbara (Lutz) Rentcheler,, who spent all of their lives in the land of their nativity. Mrs. Braun came to America in 1880 and resided in Kansas City for two years prior to her marriage. To John and Kathrine Braun have been born children as follow: Benjamin, born July 11, 1885, a land owner of Clinton township, married Ella Hoppe, daughter of August Hoppe, and has two children, Mary Ellen and Bessie May; John F., born October 15, 1887, resides on a farm in Fairview town- ship and owns a farm in Clinton township, married Minnie, daughter of William F. Standke, and has one son, John William; George, born No- vember 27, 1889, married Lottie, daughter of William Dunning, and has three children, Frank, William and Clayton; Mary, born January 18, 1891, lives in Clinton township, married Estes Williams and has four children, Philip, Daisy, Ellen and Dorothy; Henry, born February 16, 1893, on the home farm, married Violet Mitchell, born July 2, 1895, daugh- ter of W. S. Mitchell, and has one child, Mildred, born August 14, 1915.
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Many women would have been terrified and disheartened at the pros- pect of shouldering the burdens of both father and mother, but Mrs. Braun is made of the material which is never afraid to try to accomplish what is necessary. To her belongs the credit of rearing her fine family, of building up and improving a fine farm and her children and many friends take pride in speaking of what she did alone and unaided when her children were small. She is a capable and intelligent woman who is proud of her fine family and takes great pride in her home. She is a member of the Golden Gate Baptist Church and has led all of her children in the paths of true morality and religion, every child being a member of this church.
Fred Schmidt .- For over forty years Fred Schmidt has lived on the farm in the southeastern part of Clinton township which he cleared from the timber along the stream which flows through his land on the boundary line. He first cut the trees and cleared a place for his home and then gradually cut more trees and placed the ground in cultivation, until he had cleared 160 acres of splendid farm land. He purchased his first seventy-four acres of timbered land for $250-an amount which was a fortune in the old days and which he obtained by the hardest kind of labor in the coal mines of Henry County. He next bought eighty acres at a cost of $32 an acre. The hardest kind of work during his long life- time has placed Mr. Schmidt in comfortable circumstances, and now, in the eventide of his long and useful life, he can sit in peace and comfort and reap the reward of his years of unremitting labor.
Fred Schmidt was born in Baden, Germany, September 26, 1843, the son of Frederick and Rosa Schmidt, who lived and died in Germany. When a boy Fred Schmidt herded sheep for a livelihood and dreamed of the land across the seas where people were free and happy, and where it was possible to attain a home and even riches if one were honest and willing to work. His dreams were eventually realized, and in 1866 he crossed the Atlantic, arrived at New York, made his way to Cincinnati, and came to Henry County in 1873, after spending six years at labor in Cincinnati. Upon his arrival in this county he obtained employment in the coal mines, where he worked until he purchased his land and began making a home for himself and his loved ones.
Mr. Schmidt has been twice married. His first marriage took place in 1868 with Elizabeth Leffler, of Wittenburg, Germany, born in 1836 and died in 1913, leaving four children: Amiel W., a farmer living two
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miles west of his father's place; Charles, a farmer of Clinton township; Mrs. Anna Standke, Clinton township; Frank, a farmer living two miles west of his father's place. His second marriage occurred in November, 1916, with Miss Margaret Schmidt, who was born in July, 1849, a daugh- ter of Matthias and Sarah Schmidt, natives of Wittenburg, Germany, who immigrated to America in 1868 and settled in Henry County. Miss Schmidt was first married to Charles Gebhart, a stone mason, who died in 1903.
Nothing can portray the remarkable changes that have taken place since Fred Schmidt first came to Henry County more than the great increase in land values. Just a few weeks ago in April of 1918 Mr. Schmidt was offered about $50 an acre for his farm, a sum which would keep him in comfort in the city during his declining years. It is needless to state that he refused the offer and intends to spend his life on the spot he loves so well. Mr. Schmidt is a Republican and is an adherent of the Lutheran faith.
Elijah W. Saunders .- Living in comfortable retirement and ease at his pleasant home in Deepwater is Elijah W. Saunders, one of the oldest of the Henry County pioneers, who came to this county fifty-one years ago. Mr. Saunders was born in Kentucky September 15, 1836, the son of Easton C. and Demaris (Fradry) Saunders, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Virginia. Elijah W. Saunders was reared to young manhood in Kentucky and was there married to Lucinda Cook, who died in 1865, leaving four children, two of whom are living: Robert, a farmer and road overseer of Fairview township, has a son, Harry, in the National Army; John, a farmer in Fairview township, has a son, Rolla, in the National Army. After his marriage Mr. Saunders removed to Sangamon County, Illinois, and settled on a farm near Taylorville, where he resided until November 11, 1867, at which time he came to Henry County and settled in Fairview township. During the first year he lived with Mr. Withrow, east of Deepwater, and then returned to Illinois for his children. He resided on the Withrow place until his sec- ond marriage and then settled on the Martin place, which he rented for a period of three years. He then bought a modest farm of forty acres, south of the town of Deepwater. He traded this tract for a farm of 160 acres on the county line, between Henry and St. Clair Counties, and im- proved a splendid farm near Pleasant Valley Church. He continued to accumulate farm land until he became owner of 500 acres of rich land.
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Mr. Saunders has given 153 acres outright to his sons and has given each child a good start in life rather than to have them wait until after his death.
January 3, 1869, Mr. Saunders was married to Miss Mary Hurt, who was born October 10, 1847, on a farm four miles south of Clinton. This marriage was performed by the Rev. Frank Laller, one of the well known ministers of that day. Mrs. Mary Saunders was born in her father's barn, as they had no house built at the time of her birth. She is the daughter of Andrew and Bertha (Mitchell) Hurt, natives of Ohio and Indiana, respectively. They were married in Indiana and first located in Boone County, Missouri, residing in that county until 1838, when the family came to Henry County and built the first cabin on the present site of the city of Clinton. Mr. Hurt entered Government land four miles southeast of Clinton. Mr. and Mrs. Hurt were parents of nine children, four of whom died in infancy: Margaret Allen, Eldorado Springs, Mis- souri; Mrs. Mary Saunders, of this review; Andrew, Deepwater, Missouri; Mrs. Berthina Langdon, living in Ohio. The children born of the mar- riage of Elijah W. and Mary Saunders are as follows: Lizzie, who is car- ing for her aged parents; Mrs. Diena Saunders, St. Clair County, Mis- souri; Charles, deceased; George, who is farming the home place, and took his father's place as school director of the home district, a position which Mr. Saunders filled for thirteen years and resigned upon removing to Deepwater in October of 1901.
Mr. Saunders is a Democrat and a member of the Baptist Church. He served for years as deacon of the Pleasant Valley Baptist Church and was one of the builders and a charter member of this church.
James D. Mann .- A man's standing in his community is naturally measured by his accomplishments in a material and civic sense. If he be but a mere money grabber and cares for nothing aside from the amassing of dollars, his importance is limited by the power of his money. If, on the other hand, he is broad gauged enough to combine the highest duties of citizenship with the accumulation of wealth his position in the community is assured; his place in history is marked; and he is deserving of more than ordinary mention. Such a man was the late James D. Mann of Montrose, Missouri. He was a man of intellect, education, and decided business ability, an executive and organizer of a high order who had the highest conception of the duties of a good citizen and who was always found in the forefront of the advocates of civic betterment.
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James D. Mann was born September 23, 1858, and departed this life September 20, 1915. He was born at Neosho, Wisconsin, the son of John L. Mann, whose wife bore the maiden name of Parsons. They were na- tives of New England. The Mann family originated in the Isle of Mann and the history of American branch of this family dates back to Colonial times, they being among the oldest of the American families of English origin. John L. Mann was a pioneer in the State of Wisconsin, where he cleared a farm from the forest in the early forties. James D. Mann was reared and educated in his native county in Wisconsin and was a farmer until his removal to Missouri in 1892. Opportunity beckoned to him and he sold his Wisconsin farm and located in the thriving city of Montrose, where for two years he was in the employ of Sol Kahn, the veteran merch- ant of Montrose. In 1894, he established the grain business which bears his name. He successfully conducted this business until his death. In addition to his grain business he was interested in agricultural pursuits and owned 240 acres of land located one mile north of Montrose.
While a resident of Wisconsin he was married in 1880 to Miss Le Moine Wilson, who was born in the city of Neosho, Wisconsin, a daughter of De Wayne Wilson, a well-known citizen of Neosho. Mrs. Le Moine Mann was born in 1863 and departed this life on October 1, 1913. The children of the family are: Arthur J .; Howard H., born November 15, 1898, in Montrose, Missouri, enlisted at Kansas City, on April 5, 1917, in the Third Missouri Regiment, now the 140th Infantry Regiment of the National Army, and is serving as a private in machine gun company, and prior to his departure to the fighting front in France, he was in training at Camp Doniphan.
Arthur J. Mann, who is now managing the Mann Grain Company and the family business interests, was born October 26, 1881, at Neosho, Wisconsin, and received his education in the public schools of Neosho and Montrose. After graduation from the local high school he studied for one year at the Missouri Valley College, Marshall, Missouri, and then pursued a business course at the Central Business College of Sedalia, Missouri. After graduation from business college he entered the grain business with his father at Montrose and now is in complete charge of the business as proprietor and manager. He completed a business course in 1902 and in the spring of 1904 went to Kansas City, Missouri, where he was employed as bookkeeper and traveling salesman for different grain firms having headquarters in the city for a period of ten years. The
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training which he received during those ten years has proven invaluable to him in conducting the Mann Grain Business.
On October 29, 1902, A. J. Mann and Miss Flora De Bold of Mont- rose were united in marriage. Mrs. Flora Mann is a daughter of Joseph De Bold, a former merchant of Montrose, now located in Clinton, Mis- souri. Mr. and Mrs. Mann have one son, Russell Mann, born August 25, 1903.
A. J. Mann is a Democrat in politics, has held the office of city alder- man, and is a member of the local board of education. He is a director of the Montrose Savings Bank. Fraternally he is affiliated with the An- cient Free and Accepted Masons of Kansas City Blue Lodge No. 299, the Orient Chapter, Oriental Commandery, and the Ararat Shrine of Kansas City.
The late James D. Mann was a Democrat and during his residence in Montrose he held practically every city office, serving several terms as mayor of the city. He was one of the organizers and president of the Henry County Boosters Club. He assisted in organizing the Missouri Grain Dealers Association and served two terms as president of this organization, being elected unanimously to this position. He was active in church work and was a ruling elder of the Montrose Cumberland Pres- byterian Church. He was fraternally associated with the Benevolent Pro- tective Order of Elks of Clinton, Missouri. .
Mann Grain Company .- The Mann Grain Company was established at Montrose, Missouri, in 1894, by the late James D. Mann under the firm name of Mann and Marsh. It was conducted as a partnership under- taking until the death of Mr. Marsh in 1903. Mr. Mann then became sole owner. After Mr. Mann's death on September 20, 1915, the business passed under the management of his son, A. J. Mann. The buildings of the Mann Grain Company cover cosiderable ground space. The elevator building is 300 feet by 40 feet in extent and has a capacity of 15,000 bushels of grain. The warehouse and office are 125x30 feet. The con- cern handles over 150 carloads of grain yearly as well as shipping twenty- five carloads of broom corn aggregating 250 tons each year. The firm also retails mill feed and seeds and two men are employed to attend to the extensive business.
John G. Goth, proprietor of a well improved farm in Deepwater town- ship, is a native son of Henry County and is a descendant of one of the sterling pioneer families of German origin who have settled and de-
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veloped the southwestern part of Henry County. Mr. Goth is owner of 241 acres of land, forty acres of which is located in Walker township. Mr. Goth erected the eight-room farm residence on his place in 1907. When he took possession of his first tract of 120 acres the improvements were negligible and the soil was partly impoverished, through years of indifferent cultivation. Mr. Goth purchased his home farm in December of 1897 and moved to the place on March 1, 1898. He paid $30 an acre for the land which is now easily worth $75 an acre. He added eighty acres in 1913 at a cost of $60 an acre. The farm is in a high state of culti- vation, and the buildings are all substantial.
John G. Goth was born September 24, 1870, on the old Henry Goth homestead, north of Germantown, in Walker township. Henry Goth, his father, was born in Indiana in April 1, 1842, and died in Henry County, September 12, 1889. He was the son of Joseph Goth, a native of Germany who first settled in Indiana after immigrating to this country, and came to the Germantown neighborhood in 1854. He was a soldier in the Union Army during the Civil War, and served in Company H of the Seventh Missouri Cavalry. Mr. Goth served until the close of the war, receiving his honorable discharge in April of 1865. The Seventh Missouri Cavalry saw much active service in Missouri, Arkansas and were constantly fight- ing bushwhackers and giving protection to the loyal citizens of this sec- tion of the country. He became owner of the Joseph Goth home place and purchased other land until he owned 190 acres of excellent farm lands.
Henry Goth was married to Mary Teeman, a daughter of Henry Tee- man of Deepwater township, deceased pioneer settler concerning whom an account will be found in this volume. Mrs. Goth was born in Henry County January 30, 1846, and died July 28, 1904. The children born to Henry and Mary Goth were as follow: Joseph H., living on part of the Goth home place; John G., subject of this sketch; George and Henry, deceased; Elizabeth Goth lives on the home place; Sylvester, farmer, Walker township; two children died in infancy; Florence, wife of Henry Danzenbrink, lives on the Goth home place in Walker township; Edward, a farmer in Deepwater township. Mr. and Mrs. Goth were devout Catho- lics and Mr. Goth was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic.
John G. Goth received his education in Oak Grove School and began doing for himself in 1891. In that year he went to California and was employed on a fruit ranch for two years. Upon his return he managed the home place until he purchased his present farm. On October 1,
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1895, Mr. Goth was married to Magdalena Kaumans, born in Shelby county, Missouri, November 16, 1875, the daughter of Joseph and Frances Kau- mans, who came to Henry County in 1888. Her father is deceased and her mother resides in Montrose. The children born to this marriage are: Andrew, Lawrence, Felix, deceased; Benjamin, Frances, Linus, Gladys, and Alma.
Mr. Goth is a Democrat but has no time for political affairs, other than casting his vote at election time. Mr. and Mrs. Goth and the chil- dren are all members of the Catholic Church.
Frank Ragland, owner of a splendid farm of 300 acres in Bear Creek township, is a native of Henry County. Mr. Ragland purchased his farm in 1912 and it is a fertile and well watered tract, crossed by Panther Creek and situated in the southeastern part of Bear Creek township. Mr. Ragland was born in Clinton, Missouri, December 19, 1871, the son of Robert H. and Laura E. (Gillespie) Ragland. Robert H. Ragland, his father, was born in 1839 and died in March, 1906. He was born in Mon- roe County, Missouri, the son of Nathaniel Ragland, a native of Ken- tucky, who was one of the Missouri pioneers.
Nathaniel Ragland came to Henry County in the early forties and entered Government land, two and a half miles north of Clinton. He improved this tract and became prominent in the affairs of Henry County. Robert H. Ragland became owner of a farm north of Clinton which he sold when he located in Clinton. He served as constable of Clinton town- ship and was deputy sheriff of Henry County for eight years. He later bought a farm in Bates County upon which he resided for a few years, and at the time of his death, made his home with his son Fred in Clinton. To Robert H. and Laura E. Ragland were born seven children: Ernest A., Harrison, Arkansas; Fred W., killed by a train in Clinton, in October, 1905; Frank, subject of this sketch; Robert, deceased; Mrs. Annie Wyatt, Shawnee township, Henry County; Roland and Auda, deceased. Mrs. Laura E. (Gillespie) Ragland was born February 11, 1838, and departed this life July 31, 1894. She was twice married, her first husband being Tolliver H. Whittaker, and to this marriage three children were born; George A., deceased; Mrs. Mary Elbertha Hoover, Grinnell, Kansas; Tol- liver H., deceased.
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