USA > Missouri > Henry County > History of Henry County, Missouri > Part 48
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Manuel E. Bradley was reared on the home farm of the family in Springfield township, and after receiving the rudiments of his education in the district school he studied in Professor Lamkin's Academy at Clin- ton. In 1885 he began teaching in the district school of Phelps County, Missouri, devoting three years, from 1885 to 1887, inclusive, to the teach- ing profession. January 1, 1888, he began the study of medicine with Dr. W. H. Gibbons, of Clinton, Missouri, and also pursued his studies at the Kansas City Medical University, graduating from that institution in May, 1890. After graduating from the Kansas City College he pur-
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sued a post-graduate course in medicine and surgery at St. Louis, Mis- souri. In 1890 he became affiliated with the Wabash Railroad Hospital at Springfield, Illinois, and remained with this hospital until 1891, when he located in Windsor, Missouri. He practiced his profession successfully in Windsor until his removal to St. Louis in October of 1897. He prac- ticed in that city until July, 1913, when he returned to Windsor and is now permanently located in his home city, where he enjoys a large and lucrative practice.
Doctor Bradley was married on December 24, 1891, to Miss Mattie E. Ellis, who was born in Benton County, Missouri, the daughter of James T. and Susan (Hughes) Ellis, natives of Missouri, who resided on a farm near Windsor in Benton County.
Doctor Bradley is independent in his political views and votes as his conscience and his good judgment dictate. He is a member of the Chris- tian Church and is affiliated fraternally with several lodges. Doctor and Mrs. Bradley have one of the most beautiful modern bungalow homes in Windsor and are popular among the people of their home city and county. Doctor Bradley is progressive as a physician and citizen. In 1906 he pursued a post-graduate course at the New York Polyclinic and also studied at the Post-Graduate Medical College of New York. He maintains his own dispensary and compounds his own medicines and constantly studies the developments in the healing science so as to keep abreast of the newest discoveries in his profession.
Richard P. Sappington, farmer and stockman, proprietor of an ex- cellent farm of 170 acres in Windsor township, was born on the identical tract of land on which he is now living December 23, 1863. Mr. Sapping- ton is the son of Boone and Jemima (Jermison) Sappington, who were parents of six children, namely: Luther, living in Greene County, Mis- souri; Grandison, a farmer in Windsor township; Granville, deceased; Lizzie, widow of William M. Thompson, Windsor, Missouri; Mrs. Mollie Dillon, Windsor township; Richard P., subject of this sketch, is the young- est of the family. "Squire" Boone Sappington was born in Boone County, Missouri, in 1822 and departed this life in 1872. He was one of the earliest of the pioneers in this section of Missouri, and was widely known as a teacher and farmer. He received a good education in Boone County and was a man of such attainments that he became a leader of the pioneers of Henry County after settling in section 22, Windsor township, in 1855. Windsor township was then known as Belmont township. He improved
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his land, developed a good farm from the prairie and cultivated it until his death. In politics Squire Boone Sappington was a Democrat and was a member of the Baptist Church. Mrs. Jemima Sappington was born in Callaway County, Missouri, in 1826 and departed this life in 1897.
Richard P. Sappington has never resided anywhere but the old Sap- pington home place and he came into possession of the farm through inheritance and purchase of the various interests of the other heirs. He was married December 26, 1888, to Anna May Horning, who was born in Illinois May 20, 1868, the daughter of David P. and Anna (Rosenberger) Horning, the former of whom died in Kansas and the latter is now eighty- four years old. Four children have been born to Richard P. and Anna May Sappington, namely: Roy, a farmer living in Windsor township; Earl, a farmer of Windsor township; Claude and Raymond, at home with their parents.
David P. and Anna Horning were parents of six children: Abraham R., Riverside, California; John Hugh, Pullman, Washington; Mrs. Han- nah M. Stivers, a widow, Pullman, Washington; Mrs. Sarah R. Groom, Deepwater, Missouri; William W., Larned, Kansas; and Mrs. Anna May Sappington. Roy Sappington married Ruth Pattison of Windsor, and has two children: Gladys Ruth and Ross Frederick. Earl Sappington married Lizzie Doran of Mountain View, Missouri, and has one son: Ken- neth Richard.
Mr. Sappington is a Democrat and is serving as road overseer in his township. He is a member of the Baptist Church and is affiliated with the Anti-Horse Thief Association.
Jonathan Blevins, a progressive farmer and stockman of White Oak township, is a Henry County pioneer. He was born in Honey Creek town- ship, which was then known as Davis township, October 13, 1855, and is a son of Robert P. and Nancy (Crockett) Blevins. R. P. Blevins was born in what is now White Oak township, near the Clary place, December 23, 1833, and was the first white child born in what is now Henry County. He spent his life in this county and died near Marvin in Honey Creek township, March 6, 1889. He was a son of Ezekiel Blevins, a Kentuckian and one of the first settlers of Henry County. He died in Johnson County during the Civil War, about 1864. Nancy (Crockett) Blevins, mother of Jonathan Blevins, was a native of Indiana and came here with her parents when she was a child in arms. She died March 6, 1898. To R. P. and Nancy (Crockett) Blevins were born the following children:
JONATHAN BLEVINS AND WIFE
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Jonathan, the subject of this sketch; Mary Theresa, now the wife of Judge W. B. Collins, one of the county judges of Henry County, a sketch of whom appears in this volume; Sarah J. married John B. Cornett, Big Creek township; Nancy Ann, married Robert DeArmond, Southwest City, Missouri; Julia Bell, married C. A. Davis, Independence, Missouri; Nora L. married Richard Hall, Clinton, Missouri; Irene married James T. Collins and is now deceased; Lottie married John Shaver, Sydney, Montana.
Jonathan Blevins was reared and educated in Davis township, and remained at home with his parents until he was about twenty-five years of age. Farming and stock raising has been his chief occupation and he purchased his present place in 1898. He owns one hundred and sixty acres of land and carries on general farming and stock raising, and has met with uniform success in his undertakings.
On January 15, 1880, Mr. Blevins was united in marriage with Miss Clara Belle Toalson, a daughter of George W. and Margaret E. (Cowden) Toalson, both now deceased. They were early settlers in White Oak town- ship, locating there in 1867. Their children were: George, deceased; Clara Belle, wife of Jonathan Blevins, the subject of this sketch; Mattie, married Nichols Long, Hartwell, Missouri; Oscar B., Bartlesville, Okla- homa; and Omar A., Urich, Missouri.
To Mr. and Mrs. Blevins has been born one daughter, Isa Merle. She married Parl Ewing, and is now deceased. She left one son, Fern W. Ewing, who now resides with his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Blevins.
The Blevins family experienced the real pioneer life of Henry County. When R. P. Blevins was a baby his mother left him in the cabin while she was at work in the garden. The cabin was only partially roofed. As the mother was at work she discovered a panther endeavoring to climb to the roof of the cabin by reaching through between the logs of the cabin, which had not yet been chinked, and reach the baby, who was lying on a pallet on the floor. She hastened to the cabin and as she reached the inside of the cabin the panther was still endeavoring to reach the baby with its claws. The mother struck one of the extending claws of the animal with a hoe that she still held in her hands and with a single blow severed the claws of the panther. Later the panther was tracked from the house and killed, by Ezekiel Blevins and the neighbors.
Jonathan Blevins is truly a representative of a sturdy pioneer family of Henry County and is typical of that class of men who have made Henry County what is is today.
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Alfred G. Dillon, farmer and stockman, proprietor of a splendid farm of 280 acres in Windsor township, Henry County, is a member of one of the old pioneer families of this county. He was born November 12, 1856, on a farm in Tebo township and is the son of Thomas A. and Mildred A. (Askins) Dillon, who were parents of two children: Alfred G., sub- ject of this sketch; and Lucinda M., deceased, wife of W. F. Burchnan.
Thomas A. Dillon was born in Ireland in 1824 and died in 1901. He was the son of Edward and Margaret (Hardy) Dillon, natives of Dublin, Ireland, who emigrated to America in 1831, and first settled in Cooper County, Missouri. By means of incredible labor, Edward Dillon cleared a farm from the timber of Cooper County and was one of the earliest pioneer settlers in that county. He died at Sarcoxie, Missouri. His wife died in Cedar County, Missouri, at the age of eighty-seven years. Thomas A. Dillon came to Henry County in 1853 and established a grocery and general store at Calhoun, which he conducted for a while, sold out and operated a store in Clinton until some time in 1854, when he engaged permanently in farming and stock raising in Tebo township. Mr. Dillon became owner of 600 acres of good land in Tebo township, all of which he accumulated solely by his own efforts, beginning his active career with- out a dollar of his own. He was married in 1854 to Mildred A. Askins, who was born in Rappahannock County, Virginia, in 1831 and departed this life in 1898. She was the daughter of Rev. Alfred and Lucinda (Jones) Askins, both of whom were natives of Virginia. Alfred Askins was a minister of the Primitive Baptist Church.
Alfred G. Dillon attended the district schools and also the Calhoun schools for two terms. He began his active career as farmer and stock- man in 1878, when he purchased 240 acres of land three miles west of Windsor. He traded this tract for Windsor property in 1880 and then traded the Windsor property for his present farm in Windsor township. Mr. Dillon has improved his land to a considerable extent and raises red polled cattle for the market. In addition to his farming interests he is a stockholder in both banks at Calhoun, Missouri.
On November 14, 1882, Alfred G. Dillon and Miss Mollie F. Sapping- ton were united in marriage. Mrs. Mollie F. Dillon was born July 13, 1861, in Windsor township, the daughter of Squire Boone and Jemima (Jermison) Sappington, well-known residents of Windsor township, a sketch of whom appears in this volume. One child has been born to.
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Alfred G. and Mollie F. Dillon, namely : Mildred J., wife of C. W. Lambeth, a sketch of whom also appears in this volume.
The Democratic party has always had the support of Mr. Dillon. He and Mrs. Dillon are members of the Calhoun Baptist Church, and he is a member of the Mystic Workers.
Edmond B. Grinstead, an enterprising and progressive farmer and horse breeder of Windsor township, and proprietor of 250 acres of well improved farm lands, was born in Pettis County, Missouri, August 14, 1856. He is the son of George W. and Susan V. (Sacra) Grinstead, who were parents of nine sons and a daughter, all of whom were reared to maturity.
George W. Grinstead was born in Kentucky in 1832 and was the son of pioneers and tillers of the soil for generations past. He crossed the plains in 1849 and spent several months in the gold fields of California. Upon his return he began farming near Georgetown, Pettis County, Mis- . souri, and later purchased a farm in Johnson County. He ceased active farming operations in 1890 and removed to Windsor, where his death occurred in 1911. Mrs. Susan V. (Sacra) Grinstead was born in Ken- tucky and attended school with the late Senator George Vest, of Mis- souri, who will always be remembered for his classical address at the trial of the famous dog case in Warrensburg. Mrs. Grinstead died in 1915. To George W. and Susan V. Grinstead were born children as fol- low: Mollie, deceased wife of Joseph M. Jones; Edmond B., subject of this sketch ; Samuel, Sedalia, Missouri ; William, a farmer of Pettis County, Missouri; Charles, a resident of Muskogee, Oklahoma; Hallie, deceased ; Robert, Government income tax collector, Kansas City, Missouri; Ernest, in the employ of the Woodard Clothing Company, Windsor, Missouri; Thomas, Denver, Colorado; Sacra L., county clerk of Henry County, Clin- ton, Missouri; William, Pettis County, Missouri.
Edmond B. Grinstead was reared to the life of a tiller of the soil, and he began his independent career upon attaining his majority. Early in life, he became interested in live stock and became an expert in this branch of animal husbandry, specializing in mules and has dealt in mules for many years. For a period of ten years he made a business of buying and shipping live stock, while carrying on his farming operations. He purchased his present home farm of 250 acres in 1901 and settled there in 1903. The Grinstead home place is nicely improved and is noted for the fine saddle horses bred by the owner. "Pearl Wilson," a splendid
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five year old saddle mare owned by Mr. Grinstead, won first prize at the Missouri State Fair for two successive seasons.
Mr. Grinstead was married in February, 1901, to Miss Leona Cooper, who was born in Johnson County, Missouri, near the Henry-Johnson County line. She is the daughter of Henry and Nancy (Stiles) Cooper, the former of whom is deceased. Two children have been born to this union: Genevieve and Gayle. Henry Cooper was born in Trigg County, Kentucky, in 1818, a son of David Cooper, a native of Kentucky, who immigrated to Johnson County in 1832 and settled on the Cooper home place. He was father of seventeen children. David Cooper lived to the great age of eighty years. Henry Cooper died in 1910 at the age of ninety-two years. Nancy (Stiles) Cooper was born in Kentucky in 1834 and accompanied her father, David Stiles, to Missouri in 1840. To Henry and Nancy Cooper were born ten children: Elizabeth, deceased; David, on a farm in Johnson County; George, Warrensburg, Missouri; Jefferson D., Johnson County ; Mrs. Margaret Muir, Windsor, Missouri; Lucy (Wil- cox), Windsor; William, Windsor; John, on the Cooper home place, John- son County ; Frank, died in infancy. The Cooper place is widely known as the "Windsor Springs," noted for its fine water and was a picnic resort.
Mr. Grinstead is a Democrat but has devoted very little time to po- litical matters during his busy life. He is a member of the Anti-Horse Thief Association, and has been active in other matters of a civic nature, aside from his farming. He assisted in the organization of the Windsor Telephone Company and it was through his influence that the line was extended through to Leesville. Few people were sanguine of his enter- prise, most folks prophesying that the venture would result in a financial failure. Mr. Grinstead persisted, however, and his energy and optimism regarding the project eventually won out, and the Windsor Telephone Company is now an excellent paying institution which gives good service to hundreds of patrons.
Hon. William Henry Davis .- The late William Henry Davis, journal- ist, farmer and legislator, was a useful and worthy citizen who did well his allotted work in behalf of his fellow citizens during the long period of his residence in Henry County. The community in which he made his home for many years was benefited; his county and State were the better for his existence. It is meet, therefore, that this memorial biog- raphy be presented in the annals of the great county which he assisted in developing.
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William Henry Davis was born in Allegheny County, Maryland, No- vember 23, 1841. He was the son of John and Alice (Robinette) Davis, who with their family came from Maryland to. Lexington, Missouri, in 1852. John Davis, Jr., father of William H. Davis, a prominent attorney, was a grandson of John Davis, a civil engineer, who planned and super- vised the water systems at Philadelphia, built the Cumberland Pike and also planned the east wing of the Capitol building at Washington, D. C.
W. H. Davis was reared to young manhood at Lexington, Missouri, and received his higher education at the Masonic College of that city. He learned the printer's trade at Lexington in the office of the "Lexington Union" and was editor of a newspaper at the age of eighteen years. After the Civil War he located in Warrensburg, Missouri, and established the "Journal," now the "Journal-Democrat." In 1869 he removed to Clinton, Henry County, and purchased the "Henry County Democrat" from the La Due Brothers, and conducted this paper until 1874, when he sold a half interest to William T. Thornton, afterwards appointed Governor of New Mexico by President Cleveland. In 1876 Mr. Davis sold this paper to Lingle and Mitchell. He then returned to Warrensburg and published the "Journal-Democrat" for a year or so, and then located in Marshall, Missouri, where he published the "Saline County Democrat" for two years. In 1878 he removed to his farm in Windsor township and became a successful farmer and stock raiser, following this vocation for the remainder of his life.
In 1878 Mr. Davis was married in Pettis County, Missouri, to Miss Alice Garton, who bore him the following children: Walter G., an attor- ney-at-law, Windsor; J. Piper, a civil engineer, assistant State highway engineer, Jefferson City; and W. Dalton, farming on the Davis home place. Mrs. Alice (Garton) Davis was born September 16, 1854, in Pettis County, the daughter of Edwin S. and Angeline (Hill) Garton, natives of Virginia, who were pioneers in Pettis County, locating in that county in 1839 and entering a tract of Government land on which they created a homestead. Mr. Garton became a large land owner and was well-to-do. He died in 1893 at the age of seventy-four years. Mrs. Garton died in 1861, aged fifty-one years. Mrs. Davis is the youngest of five children born to her parents, the others being: Marcellus, Tulsa, Oklahoma; Mon- roe, deceased; Mortimer, Colorado; Mrs. Maryetta De Jarnett, Pettis County, near Sedalia. The Davis homestead in Windsor township con- sists of over 300 acres of fertile land well improved. This farm is now
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being cultivated by William Dalton Davis. William Henry Davis died December 18, 1912.
Mr. Davis was a Democrat and took a prominent and active part in political affairs in Henry County for many years. He was twice elected to represent Henry County in the State Legislature and served as a member of the thirty-sixth and thirty-seventh General Assemblies with distinction and honor to himself and his constituents. He was a mem- ber of the Methodist Church, South, for over twenty-five years and served on the board of trustees of his church. In the death of Mr. Davis the community and Henry County lost one of its best and most loyal citizens, a man who stood high in the estimation of the people, of rugged honesty, strict integrity, of fine attainments; he was a man whom friends uni- versally respected and admired. He was a devoted husband and father, kind and loving. Henry County was bettered by having William Henry Davis as a citizen.
Oglesby Love Young .- Longevity and large families are the most striking attributes of the Young family of Missouri. Besides being a son of parents to whom were born a large family of thirteen children, Oglesby Love Young, retired farmer of Windsor, Missouri, has also reared a large family of eleven children. In addition to this he has accumulated a splendid farm and sufficient of this world's goods to maintain him in peace and comfort for the remainder of his days.
Oglesby Love Young was born in St. Charles County, Missouri, Sep- tember 17, 1835, the son of Oglesby and Jane (Love) Young, to whom were born thirteen children, only three of whom survive. Oglesby Young was a native of Virginia and settled in St. Charles County, Missouri, as early as 1833. His farm was located fifty-two miles west of St. Louis and he spent the remainder of his days on the place which he developed from a wilderness, dying at the ripe old age of eighty-eight years. Mrs. Jane Young was born in Kentucky and died in 1861 at the age of forty- eight years.
O. L. Young, subject of this sketch, began his active career as an ox driver on the construction of the Wabash railway through St. Charles County. For several months he was employed in railroad construction work. He enlisted in 1862 as a member of the Missouri State Militia and saw six months' active service within the borders of the State. He then followed farming in St. Charles County until 1881, when he came to Henry County and settled on bottom land three and a half miles southwest of
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Windsor in Windsor township. Mr. Young purchased a total of 360 acres upon which he placed splendid improvements. In 1914 he purchased another farm and now owns 273 acres of well improved land. During his active years, Mr. Young was an extensive corn and tobacco grower and raised considerable live stock. December 20, 1917, Mr. Young purchased a home in Windsor where he is now residing.
March 4, 1862, O. L. Young and Charlotte V. Bird were united in marriage. Mrs. Charlotte Young was born in St. Charles County, Mis- souri June 2, 1840. She and Mr. Young were sweethearts from their boyhood and girlhood days. She was reared along the right of way of the Wabash railroad and could hear her future husband yelling at the oxen he was driving when he was doing his first gainful labor on his own account. Twelve children have blessed this marriage: Fannie, widow of Robert Finley, Sedalia, Missouri; Mary Nettie, wife of George Huston, Colorado; Arthur E., Prior, Oklahoma; Marshall, Globe, Arizona; Will- iam, Salt Lake, Utah; John L., living on the Young home place in Wind- sor township; Sallie, wife of Clint Nicholas, Stevens, Missouri; Mattie, wife of Doctor Butler, a veterinarian at Montrose, Missouri; Anna, wife of Joseph G. Burchman, Windsor township; Stella, wife of Joseph Martin, Stevens, Missouri; Charlie, Globe, Arizona; one child died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Young have a total of thirty-five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Mr. Young has long been allied with the Democratic party, but dur- ing his life time he has taken no more than a good citizen's interest in political matters. He and Mrs. Young are members of the Methodist Church and are looked upon as two of the most highly respected citizens of Windsor and Henry County.
George B. Carle, proprietor of a well improved farm of 126 acres in sections 4 and 5 of Windsor township, was born in Fayette County, Penn- sylvania, May 30, 1840, and is the son of Moses and Eliza (Bunker) Carle, who were parents of six children.
Moses Carle was born and reared in Pennsylvania and after his marriage in Fayette County he moved to Ohio and lived in that State until 1872. He then made the long trip westward and settled in Henry County near Windsor, where he spent the remainder of his days in profitable farming and stock raising. He was born December 7, 1814, and died June 7, 1894. Of the six children born to Moses and Eliza Carle, George B. Carle is the eldest, the others being: Sarah, deceased ;
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Minerva, who is keeping house for her brother on the home place; Mrs. Mary F. Neal, deceased; Bertha J., deceased; James A., a farmer near Clinton, Missouri. The late Mrs. Mary F. Neal left two children: Albert, who lives at New Carlisle, Ohio, and Hervey Neal, who is mayor of La Porte, Texas. Mrs. Eliza Carle was born in Fayette County, Pennsyl- vania, July 16, 1816, and departed this life January 29, 1899. The home place of the Carles was willed to the five surviving children upon the death of the father. It is now owned by the three survivors and has been under the management of George B. Carle for several yars. The Carles are of Scotch-Irish descent on the paternal side and on the mother's side they are of Welsh ancestry. The Carle farm has recently been sold, May 30, 1918, and Mr. Carle and his sister are now living in Windsor, Missouri.
W. H. Whitlow .- The Whitlow family is one of the oldest of the worthy pioneer families of Henry County and members of this well-known family have lived in this county and taken an active part in its affairs since 1854, when Andrew Whitlow, father of W. H. Whitlow, of this re- view, left his old home in Kentucky and came to found a new home in the wilderness which was then Henry County. He entered Government land and lived on his farm created with his own hands until death claimed him.
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