USA > Missouri > Henry County > History of Henry County, Missouri > Part 49
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Andrew Whitlow was born in Kentucky, April 10, 1813, and died at his home in Henry County April 3, 1901. He came to Henry County in 1854, entered land, built a log cabin, which was later replaced by a good residence, reared a splendid family and did well his part as a pioneer in developing this county. He was married to Mary Jane Hall, a native of Kentucky, born in 1828, and departed this life December 20, 1900. To them were born children as follow: Cornelius, deceased; Judy Belle, wife of J. R. Burris, living in Texas; Mrs. Matilda Ann Woods, Oregon; Mrs. Narcissus Cole, a resident of Oregon; W. H., of this sketch; Mrs. Alice Rudd, a widow, living in New Mexico; Mrs. Laura Hutchinson, lives in Henry county; Mrs. Etta Ballard, Washington.
Andrew K. Whitlow's first wife was a Miss Harvey, who bore him three children: R. W., of Boonville, Cooper County, Missouri; Mrs. Eliza- beth Smith, Cooper County, Missouri; and P. W. Whitlow, deceased, died in Texas while on a visit.
W. H. Whitlow was educated in Coal district school and remained at home with his parents until attaining the age of twenty-six years. In
W. H. WHITLOW AND FAMILY
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1885 he purchased eighty acres of land from his father and began farm- · ing. He now owns 280 acres. The home farm of the Whitlows, where he was born January 7, 1860, is situated one mile south and a half mile west of Coal. Mr. Whitlow moved to his present home farm in 1886, erected the pretty cottage home which graces the premises, and has had the satisfaction of placing all of the improvements on his farm. He has prospered as the result of diligence, energetic accomplishment, and good financial management and is now rated as one of the most substantial and best-known residents of his township, where he has long been one of the leaders.
In 1886 Mr. Whitlow was married to Miss Amanda Davis, who was born in Illinois, February 22, 1864, the daughter of Frank E. Davis, who was twice married, the stepmother of Mrs. Whitlow being Piney M. Davis. The Davis family came to Henry County in 1869. Both parents of Mrs. Whitelow died in this county. Her brother, Wells R. Davis, re- sides on the home place.
The children born to W. H. and Amanda Whitlow are: Olney Hall Whitlow, born January 25, 1890; and Davis King, a bright lad, born De- cember 17, 1905.
Mr. and Mrs. Whitlow are members of the Good Hope Baptist Church and take an active interest in religious affairs, Mr. Whitlow having served in the capacity of treasurer of this church for several years. He is a Democrat and is considered one of the best citizens of Henry County, intelligent, sociable and well informed on public affairs. He takes a keen interest in his home county.
Frank M. Buckner, successful farmer and stockman of Windsor township, proprietor of 102 acres of well improved land, was born on a farm near Eldorado Springs, Missouri, January 16, 1856. He is the son of Dr. Ansel and Elizabeth (Foster) Buckner, who were parents of four children: Frank M., subject of this sketch; Carrie, wife of D. R. Elliott, Green Ridge, Missouri; Anna, wife of James Hellons, Pettis County, Mis- souri; Jasper B., Windsor, Missouri.
Dr. Ansel Buckner was born on a pioneer farm near Lexington, Mis- souri, in 1828. He was the son of Berry Buckner, a pioneer settler of Jackson County, Missouri, after whom the town of Buckner was named. Ansel Buckner became a physician and practiced medicine before the out- break of the Civil War. He served as a surgeon in the Confederate army during the struggle between the North and the South and after the close
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of the war also engaged in farming pursuits. He was killed by lightning in 1873. Elizabeth (Foster) Buckner was born near Greencastle, Indiana, in 1833, and died in 1914.
After the close of the Civil War Ansel Buckner settled in Pettis County, and here in this county Frank M. Buckner was reared to young manhood. He came to Henry County in 1878 and bought a farm located south of Windsor which he improved and sold in 1902. He then pur- chased his present farm of 102 acres and has made nice improvements thereon. Mr. Buckner is engaged in general farming and the breeding of Duroc Jersey hogs for the markets.
Mr. Buckner was married in 1877 to Miss Ellen Clayton, who was born in Illinois, the daughter of Ira B. Clayton, a native of Kentucky, who migrated to Pettis County, Missouri, in 1874. Ten children have been born to Frank W. and Ellen Buckner, as follow: Myrtle, wife of W. M. Nixon, Colorado Springs, Colorado; Earl and James, farmers in How- ard County, Missouri ; Carrie, wife of W. A. Christian, Pettis County, Mis- souri; Rose, wife of S. A. Pearce, Tebo township, Henry County ; Flossie, wife of H. H. Gilliland, South Windsor, Henry County; Hattie, wife of R. C. Funk, living on a farm near Calhoun, Missouri; Blanche, wife of John Gordon, Montrose, Missouri; Everett and Margaret, at home with their parents.
The Democratic party has always had the support of Mr. Buckner. He and Mrs. Buckner are members of the Christian Church. He is fra- ternally affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America.
George H. Munday .- It is a mooted question as to which is really the better, a large farm of hundreds of acres, requiring a great deal of help and much work and worry upon the part of the owner, or the small, well improved farm which can, if necessary, be cultivated by the owner himself, without aid other than modern farm machinery. We are in- clined to the belief that the agriculturist who owns the small or moder- ately sized farm during this present era of decided scarcity of labor of all kinds is in a much better position than the large land owner, depen- dent upon high priced farm labor. The Mundy farm of seventy-five acres in Windsor township is an ideal farm as regards size, location and im- provements. The family of George H. Munday, the owner, have all the comforts of the city home right on the farm. The Munday home is a
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beautiful, modern residence equipped with an electric lighting system and every convenience for making farm life really enjoyable.
George H. Munday was born in Deer Creek township, Henry County, nine miles northeast of Clinton, January 9, 1870. He is the son of Ben- jamin F. and Mary (East) Munday, who were parents of seven children.
Benjamin F. Munday was born in Hendricks County, Indiana, in April, 1843. He came to Henry County, Missouri, in 1866 and after a period of residence on his wife's farm he purchased a place of his own which he cultivated until his retirement to a home in Calhoun in 1912. Mr. Munday was married January 12, 1869, to Mary East, who bore him seven children, namely: George H., subject of this sketch; Lizzie, de- ceased; L. S., a farmer in Deer Creek township; Emma, wife of H. Des- Combes, Smithton, Missouri; Frank, living on the old home place in Deer Creek township; James C., living in Springfield township; A. B., living near Alberta, Henry County, Missouri. The mother of these children was born in Henry County, Missouri, the daughter of George and Mary (Goff) East, who were pioneer settlers of Henry County.
George H. Munday was reared on the home farm in Deer Creek township and after receiving such education as was afforded by the dis- trict school of his neighborhood he pursued a higher course in Professor Lamkin's Academy, where he was a schoolmate of Uel W. Laınkin, editor of this work. Soon after attaining his majority he began doing for him- self and remained at home until his marriage in 1898. In 1900 he pur- chased his present home place of seventy-five acres in Windsor town- ship and moved there in January, 1901. This is one of the best improved places in Henry County.
October 6, 1897, George H. Munday and Miss Iva L. Garrett were united in marriage. One child has blessed this marriage: Lewis G. Mun- day, born August 3, 1903. Mrs. Iva L. (Garrett) Munday was born in Johnson County, Missouri, the daughter of W. A. and Alice (Walker) Garrett, the former of whom was born in Johnson County, Missouri, and the latter of whom was a native of North Carolina. William A. Garrett, her father, was born October 11, 1848, and is now residing on the farm which was settled by the Garretts in Johnson County in 1843. His wife, Alice (Walker) Garrett, was born December 10, 1851, and departed this life January 14, 1913. There were six children in the Garrett family, as follow: Mrs. Iva L. Munday ; Mrs. Mary Edna Powell, Johnson County ; Daisy Cornelia, at home; Mrs. Linnie Adria Kavanaugh, Kansas City;
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Robert Lewis, at home, and Mrs. Nellie Washington Reynolds, Johnson County. The great-grandfather of William A. Garrett, named Thomas Simms, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, the ancestry having been traced so that Mrs. Munday could become a member of the Daugh- ters of the American Revolution.
Mr. Munday is a Democrat. Both Mr. and Mrs. Munday are intelli- gent, well read people who keep abreast of the times and are progressive in their views. They have many warm and steadfast friends throughout their home community.
James W. Edmondson, farmer and thoroughbred live stock breeder of Windsor township, Henry County, was born April 2, 1848, in Coving- ton County, Kentucky. He is the son of Job and Mary (McDonald) Ed- mondson, to whom fifteen children were born, as follow: James W., sub- ject of this sketch; Cordelia, wife of James Denning, Shawnee County, Oklahoma; Grant, living near Lewis Station, Henry County; Richard, a miner of the Bowen Mines, Windsor, Missouri; Charles, a miner, Wind- sor, Missouri; Lucretia, wife of Henry Goodrich, Henry County; Andrew, Pittsburg, Kansas. The other seven children of the family are deceased.
Job Edmondson was born at Georgetown, Kentucky, January 27, 1826, and died in 1912. He was the youngest and last survivor of eleven children born to his parents. The Edmondson family came to Henry County in 1849 and settled on a farm just across the road from where James W. now resides. A log cabin was the first home of the family and here the large family was reared until 1860. Job Edmondson enlisted for service in Company C, 7th Missouri Cavalry under General Phillips and George Crittendon and served until his discharge on account of sick disability in 1864. He contracted measles and his eyesight became badly affected so that he was practically incapacitated during the remaining years of his life. He died at Calhoun, Missouri. Mrs. Mary Edmondson was born in Covington County, Kentucky, May 22, 1833, and died in 1887, June 22. Job Edmondson and Mary McDonald were married in 1847.
James W. Edmondson has lived in the neighborhood of his present farm since he was three years of age and has witnessed the gradual de- velopment of this entire country from a sparsely settled region to the splendid agricultural and stock raising country which it now is. He pur- chased his first land from H. P. Faris in 1882, having previously rented the tract for seven years. Mr. Edmondson is owner of eighty acres of land upon which he has placed practically all of the improvements. On
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April 2, 1918, he began the breeding of big type Poland China hogs and is specializing in this department of animal husbandry. For the past thirteen years he has been a breeder of Shropshire sheep.
February 11, 1875, Mr. Edmondson was united in marriage with Miss Hannah L. Telliss, who was born June 30, 1856, on a farm two miles from Leesville, Missouri. She is the daughter of Jonathan and Telitha (Leonard) Telliss, natives of Indiana, who settled in Henry County in the late fifties. Six children have been born to James W. and Hannah L. Edmondson, as follow: Walter W., United States mail carrier at Wind- sor, Missouri, a sketch of whom appears in this volume; James, Council Bluffs, Iowa; Mrs. Addie Crogsdale, Kansas City, Missouri; John H., Kansas City, Missouri; Mrs. Ora Carter, Council Bluffs, Iowa; Leonard W., a soldier in the United States Marines.
Mr. Edmondson has always been a stanch Republican. He is affili- ated with the Anti Horse Thief Association and is a progressive and enterprising citizen who has the best interest of his home community and county at heart. He is a stockholder of the Peoples Bank of Cal- houn, Missouri, and is also a stockholder in the Farmers Elevator Com- pany at Windsor, Missouri.
Robert M. Funk, owner of a fine farm of 160 acres located in sec- tions 15, 16, 21 and 22 of Windsor township, is a native Missourian, hav- ing been born in Pettis County October 25, 1864, on a farm situated five miles west of Green Ridge. He is the son of John and Lucinda (Rogers) Funk, natives of Kentucky.
John Funk was born in Hardin County, Kentucky, February 28, 1824, and died May 25, 1903. He was married in Kentucky to Lucinda Rogers and came to Missouri as early as 1857, residing on his farm in Pettis County until his death. He was the son of Alexander and Sarah (Walters) Funk of Kentucky, who had a family of nine children, John Funk being the ninth child born. To John and Lucinda Funk were born seven children. Mrs. Lizzie Smith; Mrs. Laura Smith; Mrs. Lula Hamp- ton; Robert M; Mrs. Lydia Crose; Shelton and Mrs. Caroline Pickett, a widow. The mother of these children was born April 27, 1833, and is now living with her daughter, Mrs. Lula Hampton, Green Ridge, Missouri.
For a period of thirty years Robert M. Funk worked on the home farm of his parents and became owner of seventy acres of land located three miles northeast of Windsor in Pettis County. In 1900 he traded this tract for another farm which he sold in 1911 and came to Henry
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County, buying his present farm of 160 acres. The Funk farm is an his- toric landmark in the county, it having been entered by a Mr. Arbuckle and later known as the Gillilan place for over twenty years.
February 26, 1890, Robert M. Funk and Miss Sarah Parker were united in the bonds of matrimony. Seven children have been born of this marriage: John, Robert C. and Albert, farmers in Windsor town- ship; Martha L., wife of P. I. Lowery, Windsor township; Laura Ellen, wife of W. Tucker, Windsor township; Oliver H. and Rex Harold, at home with their parents. Mrs. Sarah (Parker) Funk was born June 5, 1874, on a farm seven miles south of Warsaw, Benton County, Missouri. She is the daughter of Philip and Martha (Eaton) Parker, natives of Ten- nessee and Benton County, Missouri, respectively. Philip Parker was born on December 19, 1837, and died February 21, 1885. He was promi- nent in the affairs of Benton County, taught school for a number of years, beginning his teaching career when seventeen years old. He also served as assessor of Benton County. During the Civil War Mr. Parker served as a captain of a company recruited at Warsaw and was wounded at the battle of Lone Jack while fighting on the Union side. Mrs. Martha Parker was born September 19, 1843, and departed this life October 22, 1897.
Mr. Funk and Mrs. Funk are members of the Christian Church and are favorably known as devout and honest people who live according to the teachings of their avowed faith. Mr. Funk is a Republican in politics and is affiliated with the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, the Anti- Horse Thief Association and is a stockholder of the Farmers Elevator Company of Windsor.
Fred H. Griefe .- Henry County has many true American citizens of German birth who came to this land of opportunity poor in purse, with no knowledge of the language and customs of the country and have be- come prosperous and are thoroughly in sympathy with American insti- tutions and American ideals. We doubt very much if throughout the length and breadth of Henry County, where there are hundreds of well- to-do and contented farmer citizens of German birth or ancestry, there is a single one who is not thoroughly loyal to his adopted country. Fred H. Griefe, large land owner of Springfield township, is one of this large population who left Germany to escape the restrictions which hampered men of his class and kept them ground down to poverty through all of their lives. He has risen in the short space of thirty-eight years from
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being a common farm hand at a wage of $8.00 per month, to become one of the wealthy and progressive land owners of Henry County and is a citizen of truest worth and integrity.
Fred H. Griefe was born in Lippe-Detmoldt, Germany, July 18, 1862, the son of Fred and Caroline (Tunnermann) Griefe, to whom four chil- dren were born: Caroline, widow of G. Scheele, Windsor, Missouri; Hen- rietta, wife of Christ Uhlenbock, Springfield township; Fred H., subject of this sketch; Henry, a merchant at Windsor, Missouri. The father of these children died in Germany in 1869. Fred H. Griefe was the second of the family to leave his native land, coming here in 1880. He first worked for two years and then sent for his mother and the rest of the family, who joined him in this county. Mrs. Caroline Griefe died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Christ Uhlenbock, in 1897 at the age of seventy-one years.
Mr. Griefe began his career in Henry County as a farm hand at $8.00 per month. For a period of sixteen years he worked as farm laborer, eleven years with one employer. He purchased his first land in 1896, eighty acres in section 11, Springfield township. From this small be- ginning his large farm has grown, with the exercise of hard work, economy and good management, to the grand total of 554 acres. The Griefe farm is one of the best improved, most fertile and the best kept places in Henry County. Each year of Mr. Griefe's ownership has added to its value.
In November, 1886, Fred H. Griefe and Miss Catherine Balke were united in marriage. Mrs. Catherine Griefe was born near Roseland, Springfield township, October 16, 1864, the daughter of John and Mary (Streeby) Balke, the former of whom was born in Germany and the latter in Henry County, both now deceased. To the marriage of Fred H. and Catherine Griefe were born children as follow: John W. and Charley, deceased; Lelia, at home with her parents.
Mr. Griefe is a Republican. He and Mrs. Griefe attend divine ser- vices at the Methodist Church. He is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Anti-Horse Thief Association.
James E. Slack was born in Henry County, Missouri, July 23, 1874, and is now engaged in farming in Springfield township. He received his education in the grade schools and the Calhoun High School, from which he was graduated. In 1897 he was married to Edna Finks, who was born in 1875 and is a daughter of Judge Mark F. and Nancy E. (Avery) Finks, a sketch of whom appears in this volume. Mr. and Mrs ..
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Slack are the parents of seven children, as follow: Martha Irene, Lyman, Helen, Marjorie, Henry, Earl V. and Walter, all of whom are at home with their parents.
James E. Slack has 175 acres in the home farm and 160 acres in Okla- homa. He is a breeder of Shorthorn cattle and jacks, specializing in thoroughbred cattle, and is endeavoring to propagate the noted "Casey" breed, being the blood of "Choice Goods," "Young Abbotsburn," etc. "Prince of Tebolaun" and "Carolina" are undefeated as show cattle. He has a herd of twenty head of thoroughbreds, breeding cows and heifers. In politics he is a Democrat and belongs to the Baptist Church. He also belongs to the Free Mason Lodge.
Mr. James E. Slack has for years been a protector of quails and makes the preservation of game birds a hobby.
Andrew D. McQueen .- Few pioneer citizens of Henry County have achieved such success as has come to Andrew D. McQueen, Union veteran, and extensive land owner of Leesville township. Nearly fifty years ago Mr. McQueen came to this section of Missouri, poor in a worldly sense, his health depleted in consequence of early hardships and the sufferings undergone through having been an inmate of the terrible Libby Prison, during the Civil War. After locating in Henry County, he soon found his health and has retained it ever since, and in time he found wealth and has lived to see the entire section of western Missouri develop and blossom into a fertile and prosperous community. He has reared one of the largest families in Henry County and has held a place of prominence and leadership in the Leesville community since he first came to this locality in 1869. He is rightly named the "Sage of Leesville."
Andrew D. McQueen was born in Carroll County, Ohio, November 9, 1837, and is the son of Abel and Rebecca (Davis) McQueen, the former of whom was born in Pennsylvania, and the latter was a native of Virginia. Mr. McQueen was reared in Ohio and served for nearly two years with the Union Army during the Civil War. Mr. McQueen first enlisted in September, 1862 in Company K, 110th Regiment, Ohio Infantry, serving one year in this regiment. At the battle of Winchester he was taken prisoner and placed in Libby Prison, and later was imprisoned in Belle Isle. The sufferings he underwent while a prisoner were terrible and left their marks upon his constitution for several years afterward. He lost forty pounds in forty days. The treatment afforded him and his comrades was terrible in its brutality and so incensed did an Irish prisoner
ANDREW D. MCQUEEN AND WIFE
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become that the Irishman swore that he would knock down the officer who had a miserable habit of cursing them and beating them without provoca- tion, while making his rounds. The Irishman did so and knocked the officer senseless. Shortly afterwards a company of soldiers filed into the prison with loaded muskets and a demand was made for the name of the prisoner who had assaulted the officer. The prisoners refused to divulge the Irishman's name and no amount of threats could compel them, they being, as Mr. McQueen says, "fearless of death, and even ready to welcome death as a relief from their misery." As a punishment he and his immediate comrades were left without food for two days. In August of 1863 he was exchanged and returned to his command. In October, 1863, he was invalided home, and during the next spring he was married to the sweetheart of his boyhood days. The marriage had been set to take place before the outbreak of the war, but both he and his sweetheart had agreed to postpone the wedding while he served his country. After his marriage in the spring Mr. McQueen again enlisted in Company I, 157th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry for one hundred days service.
While engaged in the campaign in the Shenandoah Valley Mr. Mc- Queen was in Milroy's division, which was surrounded by a part of the Confederate Army and compelled to surrender.
Soon after the close of the Civil War Mr. and Mrs. McQueen moved to western Indiana, where he purchased eighty acres of land. His ex- perience in this section of Indiana, which was largely wooded and marsh land at that time, was not satisfactory and he found that the climate was very unhealthful. For four years he struggled against continued illness and became so thoroughly discouraged that he determined to leave the country and go west. Mr. McQueen trekked through Illinois but found Illinois people also afflicted with malaria and kindred ailments and decided to try Missouri. He traveled over the State and eventually ar- rived in western Missouri. The excellent health of the settlers in the eastern part of Henry County and the beauty of the surroundings in which they lived pleased him very much and he decided that he had found a permanent abiding place for him and his. He disposed of his land in Indiana and came to Leesville township in 1869. His first investment was in 200 acres of land at a cost of thirteen dollars an acre. For this land he went in debt to the extent of $1,000. He had some money but it was necessary for him to purchase a team, some live stock and tools with which to work. This expenditure ate up all of his slender capital.
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Along came the panic of 1873, and for four years he strove in hard lines and had all that he could do to keep the wolf from the door during the lean years. He hauled corn to Clinton, a distance of fourteen miles, for a mere pittance in order to get food with which to feed his family. After the "lean years" Mr. McQueen decided never again to go in debt and to "pay as he went." This resolution he has kept for many years and has prospered as he deserved.
Mr. McQueen taught school in the neighborhood for a number of years while conducting his farming operations with hired help. Mr. McQueen has added 160 acres to his home farm, making 360 acres in this farm. During the years past he has purchased different farms ag- gregating 340 acres, making a total of 700 acres. His first home in Henry County was a log house of two rooms. He cut the logs, trimmed them and built the cabin himself. In the fall of 1885 he erected his present imposing frame house, which is one of the largest in the county. The upper part of this mansion contained a very large room which Mr. McQueen dedicated to the use of the neighborhood for social doings and meetings. When the residence was finished he sent out word through- out the surrounding country for the young folks of the neighborhood to come to a housewarming and social event. They came and spent an enjoyable evening. At this time he addressed them and informed them that this large room was theirs for all time and would serve as a gather- ing place for the young people as long as he lived and that the room was dedicated to the people of Leesville neighborhood for innocent social events and that every gathering must be kept within the bounds of pro- priety. For many years the young folks and even the older people availed themselves of this generosity and sociability and many enjoyable social events were held, the McQueen residence being the mecca of the folks of the surrounding country.
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