History of Henry County, Missouri, Part 57

Author: Lamkin, Uel W
Publication date: 1919
Publisher: [s. l.] : Historical Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1018

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When the Civil War broke out John W. Robinson enlisted in the 102nd Ohio Infantry and served until the close of the war. He was mustered out of service and honorably discharged at Columbus, Ohio, by general order of the war department.

On July 1, 1868, John W. Robinson was united in marriage with Miss Matilda E. VanKirk, a native of Wayne County, Ohio, and a daugh- ter of Reuben and Agnes VanKirk, natives of Washington County, Penn- sylvania, who removed to Ohio and spent the latter part of their lives in Wayne County. Mr. and Mrs. John W. Robinson came to Henry County, Missouri, the same year that they were married and on October 24, 1868, settled on a small place in Bogard township. Their first home was a small cabin fourteen by sixteen feet. This was their home for two years and their eldest daughter, Clara, was born in this pioneer home. Later they built a more modern and commodious residence which is now the Robinson home. The Robinson family endured the many inconveniences incident to pioneer life, and for a number of years after being discharged' from the army Mr. Robinson's health was poor. However, they managed to get along very well and made a comfortable home in the new country. Mrs. Robinson now has eighty-seven acres of land and a very comfortable home. John W. Robinson died in 1904. To John W. Robinson and wife · were born three children: Mrs. Clara Single, Bogard township; Nellie, a prominent Henry County teacher, who makes her home with her mother, and Vernon V., who married Eunice Gourley of Webster County, Mis- souri, and operates the home place. Mrs. Robinson has eight grandchil- dren: Lowell, Curtis, Harley, Robert, Paul, Mary Matilda, all single, and' John Gourley and Frances Matilda Robinson.

JOHN W. ROBINSON AND FAMILY

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Mrs. Robinson has seen much of the development of Henry County from the uninhabited plains to the present well cultivated fields and busy towns. She and her late husband, John W. Robinson, are entitled to en- rollment among the honored pioneers of Henry County, who did their duty nobly and well.

S. W. Robison, the veteran agent of the Frisco Railway Company at Harvey Station, is a Henry County pioneer. Mr. Robinson was born in Windsor township, Shelby County, Illinois, in 1849. His parents were David and Elizabeth Ann (Warren) Robison, the former a native of North Carolina and the latter of Tennessee. The father died in 1872 and the mother departed this life in 1889. They were the parents of four chil- dren: Peter, Lakewood, Illinois ; David, Butler, Missouri; John, Johnstown, Missouri; and S. W., the subject of this sketch.

S. W. Robison was reared and educated in his native state. In 1882 he came to Missouri, and located in Honey Creek township, Henry County, where he was engaged in farming and stock raising for four years. Before coming to Missouri, Mr. Robison taught school in Illinois for a number of years, and also was engaged in teaching after coming to this county and was a very successful educator. On April 7, 1900, he was appointed agent for the Frisco railroad, and since that time has held that position. During the course of his career, in dealing with the public as a representative of the railroad company, Mr. Robison has acquired an extensive acquaintance and by his courteous manner and accommodating methods in dealing with the public, has made many friends. He not only has won the good will and esteem of the public, but the confidence of his employers in the carrying out of the trust and responsibilities imposed in him.

Mr. Robison was united in marriage in 1882 with Miss Anna Miller of Honey Creek, a daughter of John and Rebecca Miller, and to this union have been born five children: George M., an electrician; D. B., employed by the Western Electric Company, Chicago, Illinois; Edgar S., State agent for the Westinghouse Electric Company, located at Dallas, Texas; Mary, resides at home with her parents, and Margaret, Clinton, Missouri.

Mr. Robison has seen much development in the county since he set- tled here thirty-six years ago. He has seen the town of Garland grow up from the beginning. He is now in his sixty-ninth year and as active in the affairs of every-day life as the average man many years his junior. He is a representative citizen of Honey Creek township and one of the substantial men of his community.

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John Owen, of Honey Creek township, is a Henry County pioneer and perhaps the oldest settler in Honey Creek township, where he has lived for sixty-five years. He was born in Kentucky in 1844, and is a son of David Owen, who was born near Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and spent a large portion of his early life in Louisiana and Kentucky, leaving home when a boy, and for forty years his people heard nothing from him. He came to Lexington, Missouri, in 1848, and to Henry County in 1853. He located in Fields Creek township, where he entered six hundred twenty acres of Government land and bought three hundred eighty acres, and at one time owned one thousand acres. Before his death he deeded all his land to his children. He died in 1893 at the age of eighty-three years, and his remains were buried in Fields Creek Cemetery. His wife, Sarah Ann Campbell, was born in Russell County, Kentucky, in 1826, and died in Honey Creek township in 1865. The Owen family is of old American stock. David Owen's father, grandfather of John Owen, was with General Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans. He enlisted in Tennessee. David Owen was a nephew of David Crockett's wife, and he was named for David Crockett. Sarah Ann Campbell, was also a descendant of old American stock, of Scotch and Irish descent who served in the Revolutionary War. To David and Sarah Ann (Campbell) Owen were born the following chil- dren: John, the subject of this sketch; Mrs. Augusta Chrisman, Clinton, Missouri; Mrs. Alice Blackwell; Mrs. Edna Bush, deceased; Quitman re- sides in Montana; Mrs. Josie McBride, Mountain View, Oklahoma; and Charles, Sherman, Texas.

John Owen was reared amid the scenes of pioneer life, receiving a limited education. He bought his first piece of land in Honey Creek town- ship, where he has spent sixty-five years of his life and where he has built up a reputation for honesty and integrity that might well be the envy of any man.

In 1875, Mr. Owen was united in marriage with Miss Louisa Waddell, daughter of James and Louisa Waddell, both now deceased. To this union were born twelve children, as follows: Nancy, Oles P., Jurina, William, Louisa, Emma, Nichols, Belle, Ada, Ella, Lizzie, and George.

During his sixty-five years of residence in Henry County, John Owen has seen this section develop from an unsettled waste to a populous com- munity: When he came here in 1853, a boy of nine years, Indians were plentiful here, and he remembers of having seen them capmed in the vicin- ity of Cook's old mill, where they were engaged in fishing and hunting.

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The Indians offered for sale venison at ridiculously low prices, compared with the high cost of living of today. Mr. Owen is one of the honored pioneers of Henry County, who is entitled to much credit for the part that he has taken in the development of the banner county of Missouri.

Jesse D. Croley, a well-known Henry County educator, now at the head of the Garland schools, is a native of Henry County, and belongs to a pioneer family of this county. Mr. Croley was born in Walker town- ship, June 30, 1884, in an old house that was built August 10, 1861, the day of the battle of Wilson Creek. He is a son of Joseph and Rebecca (Short) Croley, both natives of Henry County, the father being born and reared in Bethlehem township. He died in 1887; he was a son of Berry Crowley, who was a very early settler in Henry County, locating near where La Due now stands at a very early day. Joseph Croley served in the Union Army during the Civil war and participated in the Battle of Wil- son Creek. Rebecca Short, his third wife, was born in Bates County and also belongs to pioneer Missouri stock. Her parents were William D., and Susan Jane Short. Joseph and Rebecca (Short) Croley were the parents of the following children: Jesse D., the subject of this sketch; Thomas A., deceased; and Ada May, now the wife of Walter S. Schroeder, Urich, Missouri.

Joseph Croley was married three times. By his second marriage were born the following children: Albert Henry, Olney Springs, Colo- rado; and Alice, now Mrs. Seaman, Chicago, Illinois. And to the first marriage were born: William James, Lawson, Missouri, and Charles Ed- ward, Brookfield, Kansas.

Jesse D. Croley was educated in the public schools of Henry County and the Urich High School. Later he took a commercial course in a Kansas City business college. He has been engaged in teaching in Henry County for fifteen years, his first school being in American school district, and for the past six years he has taught at Garland district No. 33. He is one of the well-known and successful teachers of Henry County, and has taught twelve terms in Honey Creek township. He received his first certificate to teach from Uel W. Lamkin, the editor of this work.

Mr. Croley was united in marriage May 12, 1908, to Miss Clara Hor- rell, a daughter of C. W. and Viola (Mitchell) Horrell of Clinton, Mis- souri. To Mr. and Mrs. Croley have been born two daughters, Dorothy May, and Clara Bernice. Mr. and Mrs. Croley are well known in Henry County, and have many friends.

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John T. Cheatham of Garland, is a descendant of a pioneer family of this State, who settled in Henry County at an early date. Mr. Cheat- ham was born in Carroll County, in 1859. He is a son of James M. and Anna (Milsapps) Cheatham. The family removed to Saline County, Missouri, when John T. was a child and resided there during the Civil War, and in 1869 came to Henry County, and settled in Honey Creek town- ship, which was then known as Flat Foot. Here the father bought two hundred eighty acres of land at ten dollars per acre. There were only a few settlers in this section of the county at that time, and among those who lived in the Flat Foot district when the Cheathams came were George Crank, William Daly, J. C. Nighbarger, David Simms, James Wiles, and a few others.

James M. Cheatham died in Honey Creek township in 1893, and his remains are buried in Fields Creek Cemetery. His wife now resides in Garland at the advanced age of eighty-seven. They were the parents of the following children: James P., died at the age of twenty; W. C., Garland; Charles, died in Los Angeles, California; John T., the subject of this sketch; Mrs. Catherine Beauregard Brown; Anna Lee; Amanda J., and Madora.

John T. Cheatham received his education in the old Flat Foot school district, in Honey Creek township. He has been interested in faming and stock raising practically all his life. For eight years he conducted a general store in Garland, which was the second mercantile establish- ment there. He was succeeded by Thomas H. Raney. Mr: Cheatham is now interested in farming and has property interests in Windsor.

Mr. Cheatham was married in September, 1889, to Miss Janet G Mastin, a daughter of William and Mary Mastin, and to this union the following children were born: Julia D., now Mrs. G. Gilbert, and James Thomas, who is in the National Army and has been in military service in France since October, 1918.

Mr. Cheatham is a Democrat and has always taken an active interest in political matters.

W. C. Cheatham, of Honey Creek township, was born at Brunswick, Chariton County, Missouri, and is a son of James M., and Julia Ann (Mil- sapps) Cheatham. The father was born in Richmond, Virginia, in 1815; he died in 1893. His wife was a native of Cooper County, Missouri, born in 1831. During the Civil War the family lived in Saline County, and in 1869, came to Henry County. At that time there was no railroad in Henry

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County, and they drove here by wagon. The mother is now eighty-seven years of age and lives at Garland, Henry County. She is an interesting pioneer woman, and has a store of war-time and pioneer experiences. She says that at one time when they lived in Saline County, that the settlers had to take the calves inside the house at night to keep them away from the wolves. During the Civil War she relates that William Quantrill and the James and Younger boys had a hiding place on the Cheatham farm, in Saline County, where they camped when they were operating in that section, and that she frequently cooked for them and furnished them with food. She says she also cooked for the Union men, when she was compelled to do so.

W. C. Cheatham received his education in the public schools and has always followed farming, until a few years ago when his health failed, and since that time he has not been actively engaged in any kind of work. When James M. Cheatham and wife settled in Henry County they bought two hundred eighty acres of land in the vicinity of Garland, and the Garland school house now stands on a portion of this land. The Cheat- hams were among the very early pioneers here, and practically saw Henry County develop almost from the beginning.

Lawrence P. Young of Honey Creek township, is a Union veteran of the Civil War and an interesting pioneer of Henry County. He was born in Athens County, Ohio, August 16, 1843, and is a son of Dr. William, Young, and Judith (Boyles) Young. Doctor Young was also a native of Athens County, Ohio, and removed to Illinois in 1845, when Lawrence, the subject of this sketch, was two years old. In 1867 he came to Henry County, and located at Calhoun, and practiced medicine there and in that vicinity for a number of years. He was one of the pioneer doctors of Henry County ; he died in 1882 and his remains are buried at Cardville, Missouri. His wife, was also a native of Ohio and she departed this life in 1872, and her remains are buried at Brownington, Missouri. They were the parents of the following children : Lawrence P., the subject of this sketch ; William, deceased ; Walter, lives at Blue Jacket, Oklahoma; Charles, deceased.

Lawrence P. Young was educated in the public schools of Illinois and spent his boyhood days not unlike the average boy of that time. After the Civil War broke out, he enlisted in the spring of 1862 at Clinton, Illi- nois, in Company E, 117th Illinois Infantry, and served in the Union Army for three years, lacking nine days. His regiment was with Sherman's army

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when they started on the memorable campaign to the sea, but the 117th Regiment was ordered back to St. Louis for the defense of that city. Mr. Young saw much hard service during the course of his military career and participated in a number of important engagements and skirmishes. At the close of the war he was mustered out by general order of the War Department at Springfield, Illinois.

In 1867, Mr. Young came to Henry County, Missouri, and first settled at Brownington, his mother having bought land prior to this time, ad- joining the townsite of Brownington. Here he resided until 1874, when he removed to Big Creek township and in 1883 purchased a farm in Honey Creek township, upon which he now resides. He has a valuable farm of one hundred thirty acres, located a short distance southwest of Garland.

Mr. Young was united in marriage in 1885 to Miss Anna Eli, daughter of William and Margaret Eli, pioneer settlers of Big Creek township, who settled in Henry County in the forties. The father was a native of Indi- ana and the mother of Kentucky. He died in 1874 and his wife died in, 1872, and their remains rest in the family cemetery in Big Creek township. They were the parents of the following children: Anna, the wife of Law- rence P. Young, the subject of this sketch; Aaron, lived in Kansas: Mrs. Nancy DePew, Bogart township; Mrs. Mary Shideler, lives in California ; and Mrs. Sarah Trent, Moberly, Missouri; Edwin, Banning, Colorado; and Reuben, Dalton, Missouri. To Mr. and Mrs. Young have been born the following children: Edna, deceased; Ethel, resides at home with her par- ents ; Henry, married Lena Howard, resides at Clinton, Missouri; Monti, married Bessie Middaugh, Honey Creek township.

Lawrence P. Young is well entitled to be classed among the pioneers of Henry County. When he first came to Honey Creek township, which was long after he settled in the county, there was not a railroad in that township, nor a bridge. He has frequently hauled goods from Warrens- burg, the nearest railroad point, to Clinton, for fifty cents per hundred, and when he hauled goods from Sedalia to Brownington he received $1.25 per hundred. During the early days he did a great deal of freighting. He recalls when Cook's Old Mill and Jackson's Mill were the only places in this section where the settlers could get their flour and meal ground. He says that the early settlers came from great distances to get their grind- ing done at Jackson's Mill and frequently the mill was so crowded with work that settlers would have to camp and wait two or three days to get their grinding done.

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Mr. Young is now in his seventy-fifth year and he says he does not remember of ever taking a dose of medicine in his life. He is one of the few Union veterans of the Civil War now living in Henry County, and the only one left in Honey Creek township, and he says he can recall only one Confederate veteran now living in that township, Thomas Cowden. Mr. Young and Mr. Cowden have been what he terms "old cronies" for many years.

John A. Overbey, a prominent newspaper man of western Missouri who is now editor and proprietor of the Urich "Herald," is a native Ken- tuckian. He was born in Trigg County in 1853, a son of Stephen N. and Margaret C. (Reed) Overbey. The father was a veteran of the Civil War, having enlisted in Company D, 8th Regiment, Kentucky Cavalry, and later served as captain of Company C, 17th Regiment, Kentucky Cavalry. He came to Henry County in October, 1867, and located three miles east of Urich in Henry County. He spent the remainder of his life in this vicinity and died April 10, 1913; his wife departed this life January 15, 1905. They were the parents of the following children: John A., the subject of this sketch; William W., Mineral Wells, Texas; Eugene R., died August 3, 1914; Mrs. Alvin C. Giltner, Creighton, Missouri; Robert A., Creighton, Missouri; and Mrs. Maggie Starkey, Sedalia, Missouri.

John A. Overby was reared amidst pioneer surroundings and received his education in the public schools. From boyhood days he was in a po- sition to get a practical view of real life and by his natural inclination for close observation he laid the foundation for his future newspaper career. In 1889 he purchased the Urich "Chronicle" and published this paper for three years. Later he was interested in the banking business in Urich, and has also been interested in the insurance business. In 1913 he bought the Urich "Herald," which is one of the live newspapers of Henry County. A newspaper merely reflects the individuality and ability of the editor, and those who read the Urich "Herald" cannot help but be impressed by the ability of the man who published it. Mr. Overby is thoroughly alive to every movement for the best interest of his town and county and for seventeen years he served as mayor of Urich.

Mr. Overby was united in marriage August 23, 1874, with Miss Serapta A. Redford of Henry County, a daughter of A. B. and Hannah Redford. To Mr. and Mrs. Overby have been born the following children: Mrs. Van W. Hall, Urich, Missouri; William N., foreman of the "Herald" office; John A., Jr., Wooster, Massachusetts, in the employ of the United States

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Government as an inspector of army equipment; Dick R., born May 15, 1886, a sergeant in the United States Army with the 110th Ordinance Au- tomobile Repair Company ; Clinton S., born December 14, 1887, a second lieutenant in the United States Army, trained at Camp Doniphan, Okla- homa. Both Dick R. and Clinton S. are now in France with the Thirty- fifth Division. Dick R. first enlisted in July, 1916, with the Missouri National Guard and first trained at Nevada, Missouri as a member of the Sedalia Machine Gun Company. Clinton S. enlisted in May, 1917, and was called to service August 5, 1917.

Mr. Overby is one of the progressive citizens of Henry County and may justly be proud of his family.

Herman Schmidt .- The Schmidt farm in Clinton township, border- ing on the Grand River, is one of the most fertile and the best improved tracts in western Missouri and embraces 450 acres. For the first five years Herman Schmidt, the proprietor, rented the land and in 1895 bought a tract of thirty acres as a modest beginning. To this was added eighty acres, then forty acres and a little later he bought another eighty acres. Still he prospered and added another 160 acres. The last two additions to the estate were forty acres and twenty acres, respectively. In 1908 the Schmidts erected a beautiful residence of seven rooms, the grounds surrounding which are very attractive and dotted with evergreens and locusts. The home sets well back from the highway. Upon the Schmidt land are three sets of improvements. The crops for the year of 1918 are as follow: twenty-nine acres of wheat which yielded 320 bushels; ninety acres of corn; forty-five acres of oats, which averaged twenty-five bushels to the acre; seventy-five acres of grasses and forage crops. The balance of the large farm is in pasture and timber land.

Herman Schmidt was born in Baden, Germany, December 4, 1864, the son of Herman and Minnie Schmidt, the former of whom died in 1865. His widow then married Rudolph Bratzler and the family emigrated to America in 1884 and made a settlement south of clinton in Henry County, Missouri. The mother of the subject of this sketch died in Clinton March 23, 1918, at the age of seventy-seven years. Mr. Schmidt has two half brothers: Alex and Rudolph Bratzler, living in Clinton.

Herman Schmidt immigrated to America in 1882 and located in Henry County, where he worked at farm labor for the first three years. For the next two years he devoted his services to his parents. He then mar- ried and began his own successful career, which has resulted in placing him in a state of comparative wealth in the short period of twenty-eight

HERMAN SCHMIDT AND FAMILY

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years. Few men can accomplish more than Herman Schmidt, coming as he did to this country without a dollar which he could call his own, and rapidly rising to the front rank of successful agriculturists in Henry County. No country on earth offers such opportunities as America, and western Missouri seems to be the land of opportunity for the sturdy Americans of foreign birth who have settled in Henry County.

January 31, 1887, Herman Schmidt and Miss Emma Gaupp were united in marriage. To this marriage have been born children as follows: Otto, born November 17, 1887, married Lizzie, daughter of August Hoppe, and has two children, Ruth, aged six, and Clyde, aged two years; Roy, born August 3, 1895, married Cecil, daughter of Al Rhoads. Mrs. Emma (Gaupp) Schmidt was born January 31, 1866, in Henry County, the daughter of Jacob and Caroline (Cruse) Gaupp, natives of Pennsyl- vania and Germany, respectively. The Gaupps came to Henry County in 1866. Jacob Gaupp first came to Missouri with his parents in the early fifties and they made a settlement in Gasconade County. When the Civil War broke out he offered his service to the Union and enlisted in a Mis- souri regiment, serving until the close of the war. After his marriage at Sedalia, Missouri, Mr. Gaupp came to Clinton township, Henry County, and purchased a farm which served as his home until his death, March 19, 1917, at the age of eighty-four years and five months. Mrs. Caroline Gaupp was born in 1841 and resides in Clinton. There were eight chil- dren in the Gaupp family: Mrs. Herman Schmidt; Mrs. Tumecie Bratz- ler, Clinton; Mrs. Nola Cale, Clinton; Mrs. Cora Minert, Oklahoma; Mrs. Lena Mullins, Kansas City; Jacob and Otto, living in Colorado; Oscar, resides in Clinton.

Mr. Schmidt is a Democrat but has never taken an active part in political matters. He and Mrs. Schmidt and the children are members of the Lutheran Church. When Mr. and Mrs. Schmidt began their mar- ried life all the property they had in the world was two mules, one colt, one sow and seven pigs and one cow with calf. During their first year they endeavored to pay cash rent for the farm but run $100 in debt, through crop failures. They were forced to borrow money and were com- pelled to pay fifteen per cent. interest on the loans. It required several years of hard work, pinching economy and good financial management to start them on the road to their present prosperous situation. They are an intelligent, refined and agreeable couple who are proud of their family and love their home, which they have actually created from the very beginning.

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History of Henry County, Missouri, Part 57

Author: Lamkin, Uel W Publication date: 1919 Publisher: [s. l.] : Historical Publishing Company Number of Pages: 1018

Author: Lamkin, Uel W
Publication date: 1919
Publisher: [s. l.] : Historical Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1018