USA > Missouri > Henry County > History of Henry County, Missouri > Part 55
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L. E. Keyes was married in 1875 to Clara J. Dean of Scotts, Michi- gan, and the following children were born to this union: Dean W., en- gaged in the train service of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas railroad; Paul C., a conductor on the Missouri, Kansas & Texas railway and re- sides at Sedalia, Missouri; L. W., secretary of the Keyes Mill & Elevator Company; and Clayton, who was accidentally killed while in the employ of the Kansas City, Clinton and Springfield Railway Company, at the age of twenty-two years. All of Mr. Keyes' sons are interested in the business.
Mr. Keyes is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, the Methodist Episcopal Church, and is one of the substantial business men of Clinton.
L. W. Keyes, secretary and manager of the Keyes Mill & Elevator Company at Clinton, is a native of Missouri. He was born at Rolla in 1885 and is a son of L. E. and Clara J. (Dean) Keyes, a sketch of whom precedes this article. L. W. Keyes was educated in the public schools
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at Rolla and learned the cooper's trade with his father, and continued in the employ of the same company with which his father was employed until he became associated with the Keyes Mill & Elevator Company in the capacity of secretary and manager.
Mr. Keyes was married March 4, 1909, to Miss Nellie Raney, a daughter of Joe and Annilda K. (Pigg) Raney of Clinton, Missouri. To this union has been born one daughter, Clayta.
Mr. Keyes is one of the progressive young business men of Clinton, and has a wide business acquaintance.
J. C. Scott, head miller for the Keyes Mill & Elevator Company of Clinton, Missouri, has been a prominent factor in the milling business of Henry County, for a number of years. Mr. Scott was born in east Tennes- see, January 21, 1868. He came to Henry County in 1888 and was em- ployed as miller at Jackson's Old Water Mill, one of the historic old land-marks of Henry County, a cut of which appears in this volume. Mr. Scott was employed there for three years. He was later employed by the Krocke Milling Company for a time, and in 1912 entered the employ of the Keyes Mill & Elevator Company as miller, where he has since been employed.
Mr. Scott was united in marriage in 1891 to Miss Anna Ambrose, a daughter of J. C. Ambrose, now deceased. Mrs. Scott was born in Vir- ginia. To Mr. and Mrs. Scott have been born seven children, as follows: William F., Denver, Colorado; Wilbur, with the Clinton Democrat, Clinton, Missouri; Oran, in the employ of Montgomery Ward & Company, Kansas City; Emmet, Helen, Mary Virginia and Howard. The four last men- tioned reside in Clinton, with their parents.
Mr. Scott has followed the milling business for over thirty years and is one of the most competent men in that line of work to be found in this section of the State. He knows milling and mills from beginning to end. He is a capable mechanic, a conscientious man and a valuable citizen. The Scott home is located at 723 Franklin street, Clinton, Mis- souri, and Mr. and Mrs. Scott and their family stand high in the com- munity.
Joseph L. Duckworth, of Clinton, is a native of Missouri, and be- longs to a pioneer Henry County family. Mr. Duckworth was born in Warren County in 1854, and is a son of Lewis and Sarah (Baxter) Duck- worth, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Virginia. They located in Warren County, Missouri, prior to the Civil War, and after
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the close of that conflict they came to Henry County in 1865 and settled in Bethlehem township, where the father died in 1869. The mother sur- vived him a number of years and departed this life in 1915 at Clinton. Their remains rest side by side in the Bethlehem Cemetery.
To Lewis and Sarah (Baxter) Duckworth were born the following children: James Lewis, who was a Civil War veteran, having served four years, and for some time after the war was in the United States secret service, died in Colorado; John, died in Warren County, Missouri; Joseph L., the subject of this sketch; Edward, present whereabouts un- known, and Mrs. Dora Butler, deceased.
Joseph L. Duckworth was reared and educated in Henry County. He was only fifteen years of age when his father died, and after that time he was unable to attend school to any extent, as his widowed mother required his assistance on the home farm in Bethlehem township. Here he was engaged in farming and stock raising until 1910, when he removed to Clinton, which has since been his home. He was engaged in the feed business for a time, and in 1915, he entered the employment of the Keyes Mill & Elevator Company, where he is at present employed.
Mr. Duckworth was married in 1886 to Miss Lula Counselman, a daughter of J. N. Counselman of Bethlehem township, Henry County. J. N. Counselman was a Henry County pioneer, he and his wife settling here in the sixties; they are both now deceased, and their remains are interred in the Bethlehem Cemetery.
To Joseph L. Duckworth and wife have been born four children, as follows: Gladys, a milliner at Holden, Missouri; Orva, manager for the Armour & Company poultry house at Duluth, Minnesota; Florence, a teacher, and Odessa, who resides at home with her parents. They are all graduates of the Clinton High School, and all have had the advantage of good educations.
Mr. Duckworth is interested in the welfare of his town and county and has always taken a commendable interest in public affairs. While a resident of Bethlehem township, he held the office of Justice of the Peace for a number of years, and is now a member of the Clinton city council, serving his second term in the second ward. He is a substantial citizen and stands high in the estimation of his friends and neighbors who know him best.
Paul Tyler, the well-known cashier of the Citizens Bank of Clinton, has been prominently identified with the banking interests of Henry County
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for a number of years, as well as his father before him. Mr. Tyler was born at Bloomington, Illinois, March 15, 1862, a son of W. D. and Adelaide (Warriner) Tyler, the former a native of Genesee, New York, and the latter of Illinois. The mother died in 1880. W. D. Tyler came to Clinton in 1866. He was then thirty-six years of age. He came to this country from New York State, and took a prominent part in the early affairs of Clinton and Henry County. He served two terms as mayor of Clinton and was elected county recorder in 1872, serving four years. He took an active part in educational matters and was a member of the Clinton school board for twenty-six years, twenty-two years of which he was president of that body. When the Missouri, Kansas & Texas railroad was constructed, he was paymaster for that company for a time.
W. D. Tyler was one of the organizers of the Citizens Bank of Clin- ton and was it's first cashier, serving in that capacity for twenty years. He died in 1913 at the age of eighty-three years and his remains are interred in Engelwood Cemetery.
The Citizens Bank of Clinton is the successor of the First National Bank of Clinton, which was organized in 1872 with a capital stock of $50,000. The first officers were: J. G. Dorman, president ; M. B. Merritt, vice-president, and W. D. Tyler, cashier, all of these gentlemen are now deceased. The First National Bank was succeeded by the Citizens Bank of Clinton in 1894, and the officers of the new organization were: J. M. Every, president; W. A. Hastain, vice-president ; and Paul Tyler, cashier. The capital stock was then the same as now, $25,000. The present officers of the bank are George S. Holiday, president; W. F. Smith, vice-president, and Paul Tyler, cashier.
Paul Tyler was the only child born to his parents. He received a good high school education and his life has practically been spent in the banking business. He began as bookkeeper in the Clinton National Bank and when the Citizens Bank was organized he became its cashier and has held that position to the present time. Mr. Tyler has had a long experience in the field of bankers and is one of the best posted men in Henry County in the intricate problems of finance and the system of modern banking.
Mr. Tyler was united in marriage in 1900 with Miss Louise Neil of Columbus, Ohio, daughter of Robert and Sarah Neil.
Mr. and Mrs. Tyler reside on the corner of Clinton and Second streets, and have a broad acquaintance and many friends in Clinton and Henry County, and the Tyler home is well known for its gracious hospitality.
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John B. Wehmeyer, of Bogard township, is one of the successful farmers and stockmen and leading citizens of Bogard township, which has been his home for over half a century. He was born in Germany in 1838 and when four years of age (1842) was brought to this country by his parents, who settled in Warren County, Missouri. In 1867 John B. Wehmeyer came to Henry County and shortly afterwards bought his first land in Bogard township, which consisted of seventy acres, for which he paid seventeen dollars and ten cents per acre. He prospered and from time to time, as the opportunity presented itself, he acquired more land. His next purchase was one hundred sixty acres at ten dollars per acre, then eighty acres at nine dollars per acre, eighty acres more at nine dol- lars per acre, and forty-two acres at twenty dollars per acre. In recent years Mr. Wehmeyer has divided most of his land between his children, although he now owns one hundred ninety acres of some of the best land in Henry County. For a number of years he was extensively engaged in feeding cattle and was very successful in this branch of the stock busi- ness. He has also generally been engaged in stock raising and farming and is regarded as one of the successful men of the county.
On March 6, 1867, Mr. Wehmeyer was united in marriage with Miss Mary Single, a native of England. She was the widow of Samuel Stud- ley. To John B. Wehmeyer and Mary (Single) Studley Wehmeyer were born the following children: William H., a farmer in Bogard township, married Pearl Forsythe and the following children were born to this union, Mary, Ruth, John, Fred and Robert; George S. Wehmeyer, farmer in Bogard township, married Etta Schnorf, and the following children were born to them, Glen, Harmel, Wilbur and LeeRoy; Robert W. Weh- meyer, a farmer in Bogard township, married Jessie Schnorf and they have two children, Clarence and Chester; and Anna, married George Wisely and died in Texas, leaving two children, Ruth and Fred.
On January 25, 1862, Mr. Wehmeyer enlisted in Company F, 3rd Missouri Cavalry and was engaged in the service until February 8, 1865, when he was honorably discharged. During the course of his military career, Mr. Wehmeyer participated in eighteen battles and skirmishes. The most of his service was in Missouri and Arkansas. He was a good soldier and always did his duty faithfully and well and earned a military record without a blot upon it.
Mr. Wehmeyer is truly one of the pioneers not only of Henry County but of the state of Missouri. He was in the city of St. Louis before there
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MRS. J. B. WEHMEYER
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were any street cars, and when a young man he clerked in a store in that city for twelve years. During his boyhood days in Warren County, Missouri, railroads were unheard of there and in fact there were none in the State when the Wehmeyer family settled here.
Everett Single, a grandson of Mr. Wehmeyer, is now serving in the National Army in France. Mr. Wehmeyer was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic at Blairstown.
James T. McKee, now deceased, the founder of McKee's Book Store was a pioneer merchant of Clinton, and prominently identified with the interests of Henry County for many years. He established the McKee's Book Store in 1870, and conducted this business for forty years, until the time of his death. The store is still owned and conducted by his estate under the management of his daughter, Miss Inez L. McKee, who took charge of the business at the death of her father in 1909. This business which is now in the forty-eighth year of its existence, is one of the oldest mercantile establishments in Henry County, and during all this time, McKee's Book Store has never permitted its methods to grow old. The stock and store is kept up to date, and everything usually found in a first-class, well-conducted book store in any city is within reach of the customers of this store.
James T. McKee was a native of Darke County, Ohio, born in 1845. He grew to manhood in his native State and received a good education. In 1867 or 1868 he came to Missouri, driving most of the way with a team and wagon, and settled at Clinton. He taught school here for a time, teaching at the old Union school district. Later he served as assistant postmaster, under Postmaster Fike. In 1870, he established McKee's Book Store, and was engaged in that business until his death as above stated.
In 1873 James T. McKee and Frances Ricketts were united in mar- riage. She was a native of Findlay, Ohio, born in 1845. She died in 1895. To James T., and Frances (Ricketts) McKee were born the following children: Dr. Ralph H., a graduate of Clinton Academy, and Wooster College, Wooster, Ohio, University of Chicago, and is now professor of chemistry in Columbia University, New York City ; Inez, L., a graduate of Wooster College, Wooster, Ohio, and was engaged in teaching until her father's death, when she took charge of the business in Clinton, and has conducted it since; Charles Romney, chemist with the United States Glue Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; he is a graduate of Lake Forest College, Chicago, Illinois.
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George S. Holliday, president of the Citizens Bank of Clinton and a well-known abstracter and man of affairs in Henry County, is a native of Illinois. He was born at Carlinville, Illinois, October 12, 1854, a son of George H. and Cinderella (Chisn) Holliday, the former a native of Conneaut, Ohio, and the latter of Kentucky. George H. Holliday, the father, was a highly educated man and a civil engineer by profession. He followed civil engineering in early life and later engaged in newspaper work, and for several years published a newspaper at Carlinville, Illi- nois. He took an active part in politics, and for a number of years served as county clerk in Ohio. He died in 1870, at the age of forty-eight years. His wife, after his death, removed to Clinton, where her son, George S., the subject of this sketch, had preceded her. She died in 1915, aged eighty-three years.
George S. Holliday had the advantages of a very good education. After receiving a thorough common school education, he took a course in Blackburn University at Carlinville, Illinois, and later attended Sanders Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He then studied law at Carlinville, Illinois, under the preceptorship of Hon. William R. Welch, and was ad- mitted to the bar at Mt. Vernon, Illinois, in 1878. He was then employed in the abstract office of J. L. Plain, Carlinville, Illinois, for a period of two years. Then, in 1880 he came to Clinton, Missouri, and purchased the abstract books and business of Cheek & Kimbrough, and since that time has been engaged in the abstract business in Clinton, a period of thirty-eight years. There is no better posted man in the abstract and title business in Henry County than George S. Holliday. In addition to his busy career as a professional abstracter, Mr. Holliday has successfully directed his energies to other financial and industrial channels. He was one of the organizers of both the Cottage Building & Loan Association and the Henry County Building and Loan Association, and has been ac- tively identified with both of these enterprises since their organizations, and served as president of both organizations for a number of years. He is also interested in the banking business, having been identified with the Citizens Bank of Clinton for sometime, and is now the president of that well-known and substantial Henry County bank.
Mr. Holliday has given much thought and study to the subject of civic improvement, and has been an active factor in all matters for the betterment and upbuilding of Clinton and Henry County. He served as president of the Clinton Commercial Club for a number of years, and it
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was through his efforts and co-operation that Clinton secured such a splendid Federal building, which is perhaps better than in any other town the size of Clinton in the southwest.
Mr. Holliday was united in marriage January 16, 1887, to Miss Alice Ray, a native of Berry, Illinois. She is a daughter of James W., and Virginia A. (Gregory) Ray of Parsons, Kansas.
Mr. Holliday is a Democrat, although he takes no particular active part in politics. He is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is one of the substantial citizens of Henry County and for nearly forty years his interest and those of Clinton and Henry County have been mutual. He is of the type of citizen who has given Henry County the appropriate title of the "Banner County of Missouri."
Robert Lewis Covington, general insurance, Clinton, Missouri, the son of Robert W. and Lucy B. (Lewis) Covington was born in Honey Creek township, April 7, 1874. He is a descendant of a pioneer family of Henry County, his father, Robert W. Covington, having been born in Big Creek township September 30, 1846, died July 9, 1910.
Robert W. Covington was the son of John O. Covington, native of Delaware, who settled in Henry County in 1840. When he came here he entered a large tract of land consisting of about three thousand acres in Shawnee, Big Creek and Honey Creek townships. When the Civil War broke out he was a stanch supporter of the Confederacy, giving practically all he had to the support of the lost cause. At the beginning of the war, he went South to what was then known as Indian Territory, and died at what is now McAllister, Oklahoma, and his remains were buried there. The wife of John O. Covington bore the maiden name of Eliza A. Barker, and her parents were among the very first settlers in what is now Henry County. They came here in 1832 and settled near Calhoun. She died October 25, 1907, in Henry County, and her remains were buried in Englewood Cemetery. Robert W. Covington and Lucy B. Lewis were married December 30, 1869. To this union were born four children, Ed- win S., farmer and stockman, Deepwater, Missouri; John O., merchant, Cockrell, Missouri; Daisy, now the wife of Morris Lane, Garland, Missouri ; and Robert L., the subject of this sketch. Lucy B. Lewis Covington was born in St. Louis County, Missouri, November 13, 1848. She was the daughter of Robert Lewis. Her grandparents having settled here as early as 1811, her family is related to familiar names, among the first settlers of Mississippi Valley, as the Bacons, Longs, Bates and Woodsons.
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Robert Lewis Covington was educated in the district schools of Henry County, and Clinton Academy, and in early life engaged in farming and stock raising. Mr. Covington was united in marriage May 20, 1896, to Miss Sarah Elizabeth Gilmer, a daughter of Robert and Anna Alexander Gilmer, natives of Kentucky. Mrs. Covington was born May 18, 1876, at Columbia, Adair County, Kentucky, and moved with her parents Novem- ber, 1884, to Henry County. She was educated in the district schools of Henry County, and Clinton Academy. Her parents now reside near Texhoma, Oklahoma.
To Mr. and Mrs. Covington have been born five children, Helen E., Robert Merritt, now serving in the United States Navy; Louise O., Lucy Lewis and Anna Gilmer. Mr. Covington is the owner of a valuable farm in Honey Creek township.
Neither John O. Covington or his son, Robert W., ever held office, but both in their time were among the leading influential citizens of this county, strong men of robust, vigorous individuality. Robert Lewis Cov- ington, the subject of this sketch, is a Democrat of influence and was Circuit Clerk for eight years, and filled that office with faithfulness and ability. He is now engaged in insurance business and is one of the prominent men of Clinton, aiding in the public welfare and especially active and useful in all patriotic work.
This pioneer stock of these generations mentioned represents faith- fully the highest type of the moral and civic virtues of the old-time citi- zenship of this county.
W. A. Driggs, president and manager of the Peoples Hardware Com- pany at Clinton, Missouri, is one of the well-known and successful busi- ness men of Henry County. Mr. Driggs was born in Woodsfield, Monroe County, Ohio, September 28, 1854, and is a son of William and Sarah Louise (Boyd) Driggs, the former a native of Connecticut and the latter of Alexandria, Virginia. William Driggs, the father, came from New England to Ohio with his parents when he was a child. In 1868 he came from Ohio to Missouri, and settled in Henry County. At that time the nearest railroad to Henry County was at Warrensburg, and when he came here he made the trip from Warrensburg to Clinton by stage. He pur- chased a farm adjoining the city of Clinton on the north for which he paid forty dollars per acre. Here he followed farming and stock raising, the remainder of his life, with the exception of the last few years, when he built a home in Clinton and practically retired. He died April 28,
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1891, age seventy-nine years, and his wife departed this life December 23rd of the same year. Five of their children are now living, Estella, the wife of John H. Lust, Altamont, Kansas; W. A., the subject of this sketch ; Sopha, the wife of John C. Goodell, Mound Valley, Kansas; A. L. Bald- win, Kansas; Mary Frances, the wife of E. L. Redding, San Francisco, California.
W. A. Driggs was educated in the public schools of Henry County, receiving a good common school education. When he was nineteen years of age he went to learn the tinner's trade and for thirteen years worked as a journeyman tinner. He then engaged in the hardware business in Clinton, in partnership with G. W. Thomas, under the firm name of Driggs & Thomas. This firm did business about one year, when Mr. Driggs purchased his partner's interest and conducted the business alone until 1897, when he went to Nebraska. After remaining there about a year he went to Kansas and in 1901 returned to Clinton, where he engaged in the furniture business, under the title of the Clinton Furniture Com- pany. Three years later he disposed of the furniture business and bought the hardware business which had been conducted by Thomas & Foster, and in 1910 incorporated this business under the corporate name of the Peoples Hardware Company, and since that time has been president and manager of this institution. This is one of the extensive hardware establishments of Henry County, and it is seldom that one finds such a complete line of hardware made up of such clean stock as is found in this establishment. The store is located on the east side of the square and has a frontage of twenty-three feet and is one hundred feet deep. Two stories are occupied by the hardware business besides a large ware- house in the rear.
Mr. Driggs was united in marriage, June 12, 1888, to Miss Nanna R. Holliday, a daughter of George H. Holliday, deceased. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Driggs, Mary Louise, who resides at home with her parents and John, who now holds a commission as first lieutenant in the National Army of the United States.
Mr. Driggs is a member of the Independent Order of United Work- man, Modern Woodmen of America and the Methodist Episcopal Church. One of the greatest bereavement of Mr. Driggs' life occurred December 13, 1914, when Mrs. Driggs departed this life.
W. A. Martin, one of the most extensive and successful merchants of Clinton, whose mammoth store is known as the "Home of Low Prices,"
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is located on South Artesian avenue. Mr. Martin is a native of Illinois. He was born in Marshall, Clark County, November 23, 1862, and is a son of Andrew J. and Jane Caldwell Martin, the former a native of Missouri, and the latter of Illinois. Andrew J. Martin, the father, was a soldier in the Civil War and died at Nashville, Tennessee while in the service. His wife died at Pierce City, Missouri. They were the parents of three children as follows: Lewis, now deceased; Mrs. Sarah McHenry of Clin- ton, Missouri, and W. A., the subject of this sketch.
W. A. Martin was reared near Versailles, Morgan County, Missouri, and educated in the public schools, and for a number of years was engaged in the sawmill business and later farmed in Saline County. He came to Henry County in 1884, where he was engaged in farming and garden- ing until 1892, when he engaged in business at his present location. He first started in a small way with a limited stock of goods in a store building 16 by 20 feet. After two years he found it necessary to enlarge his store room to accommodate his rapidly growing business, and as his business has developed he has added more store room, more warehouse room and more clerks until his business has grown to be one of the largest commercial enterprises in Henry County. His present store building is 44 by 66 feet, with basement, and he has two warehouses, 30 by 40 feet and 36 by 40 feet. When Mr. Martin began business at his present loca- tion it was outside of the city limits, but in 1902, the city limits were extended which included the Martin store.
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